Global Markets

Watch today’s US Open for commentary on the latest data from China, IEA’s upgrade in the 2023 oil demand outlook, latest and upcoming earnings and more

Debt ceiling negotiations take center stage in Washington today. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated on Monday that June 1 is the deadline when the Department of the Treasury might face challenges in meeting its financial obligations if the debt ceiling is not raised. President Joe Biden's meeting with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is expected to be a crucial moment in these negotiations. While Biden expressed cautious optimism during…

Contrary to market expectations of potential interest rate cuts in response to an impending economic downturn and potential recession, central bank officials have indicated their preference for maintaining and potentially raising rates.

The Chinese economy has been reopening after the abandonment of the strict Covid containment policies, but April’s indicators cast doubt over the prospects of the recovery

Last week, US headline inflation came in under 5% for the first time in two years. Core inflation was 5.5% y/y and is still looking sticky. Chinese CPI was a disappointing 0.1% y/y and Chinese factory-gate inflate declined 3.6% y/y. We also saw the BoE raise rates by 25 bps to 4.50%. This week will see a host of Fed speakers with Fed Chair Powell participating in a panel discussion…

Most major central banks around the world have been aggressively hiking rates for around a year now to rein in inflation, but different approaches have emerged, as they get closer to peak rates in an uncertain environment

The USDZAR has climbed over 5% for the week and is trading near R19.42, down from the its of R19.5152. US ambassador, Reuben Brigety, accused South Africa of providing weapons and ammunition to Russia. These were allegedly loaded onto a Russian ship at the Simon's Town naval base in Cape Town in December 2022. The news caused the rand to fall near its record low from 2020, and it also…

Watch today’s US Open for commentary the rate hike by the Bank of England and its non-committal stance around future moves, the latest quarterly results by entertainment giant Disney and more

The BoE delivered its twelfth straight rate increase and kept the door open to more moves with typically vague communication, while upgrading its GDP and inflation forecasts

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), consumer prices in China rose by just 0.1% in April from a year ago, the lowest rate of inflation in two years. This suggests that there is weakness in domestic demand and raises questions about the strength of the economic rebound.

Headline CPI for April came in a t 4.9% y/y, modestly lower than the 5% y/y expected. Core inflation which strips out volatile items such as food and energy printed at 5.5% y/y which was slightly lower than the previous 5.6% y/y. The month-on-month figures for headline and core were 0.4% respectively, which equates to 4.9% annualised. This is still much higher than the Fed’s target of 2%.