The
major news of the session was the inflation data from Tokyo (OK, the
other major news is way down the page, where it belongs). The Tokyo
CPI accelerated
in May. The
national level CPI data will come along in around three weeks and if it
follows suit (the Tokyo data is usually not too different from the
national numbers) it’ll keep the
Bank of Japan pretty
much
on track to consider a further
rate
hike in the
months
ahead.
Note that the BoJ do not seem to be in too big a rush for the next
hike.
Other
data from Japan was mixed. Industrial production dropped in April, a
surprise. Retail Sales moved ahead with a strong beat.
We
had yen supportive comments from Japanese finance minister Suzuki
today, he gave the yen a bit of a boost.
The
other main data of focus were PMIs from China. These were the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) PMIs, the official ones. While
the Services PMI dipped a touch it remained in expansion. The
manufacturing PMI, on the other hand, showed a very poor result,
dropping to a three-month low and back into contraction at 49.5. It’s
a bumpy recovery in China for sure. Stay tuned for the privately
surveyed Caixin PMIs to follow next week, manufacturing on Monday and
services on Wednesday.
Major
FX was mixed. The dollar strengthened against EUR and GBP, while
NZD/USD rose. AUD and CAD were fairly flat.
USD/JPY
dribbled down to lows around 156.60 after the data and Suzuki, but has
since recovered to around the middle of its session range around
156.78 as I post.
Don’t
forget, and be prepared, US inflation data is still to come:
And,
before that, something interesting:
***
There
is going to be no escaping the US election saga in the months ahead.
Today’s bombshell was that Donald
Trump was found guilty in his criminal trial in New York. In summary:
- Trump
is the first
US
president
to be convicted of a felony - He
was found guilty
on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to commit election
fraud - Jurors
were unanimous on all counts - The
case
centered
on hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels - Sentencing
will
be on
July 11 - Potential
sentence is from nothing to up to 4 years in prison
Those
are all facts, if you’d like speculation on what’s ahead, much of
it ill-informed and partisan, there is plenty about. Or, you could
just have a good weekend.
Read More:ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: China’s manufacturing PMI back into contraction
2024-05-31 03:43:17
