The Fed holds with a mildly hawkish tone, but is still expected to cut again. Copper jumps 11% to a record-high. Singapore holds policy but a tightening is coming; Australia’s inflation rise looks to be temporary, and Indonesia’s stock market plunges.
In our Deep-Dive interview, ANZ New Zealand Senior Strategist David Croy looks at what’s behind the Kiwi dollar’s strong start to 2026.
5 things to know in 5 minutes:
The Fed held its official rate as expected yesterday, but rate cuts remain on the horizon, says ANZ Economist in London Henry Russell. Meanwhile, copper vaulted to new record highs, although the fundamentals don’t support such a big rise in the short term, says ANZ Commodity Strategist Soni Kumari.
As we reported yesterday, ANZ Research has updated its call for next week’s Reserve Bank of Australia decision to a 25 basis point hike. That follows lower unemployment and higher inflation data than expected in recent days. ANZ Head of Australian Economics Adam Boyton says the move won’t be the start of hiking cycle.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore held policy steady at its meeting yesterday, with a cautiously optimistic outlook for growth, says ANZ Head of Asia Research Khoon Goh. He says the next move should be a tightening though.
ANZ’s New Zealand Business Outlook tumbled 10 points in January as firms lowered future activity projections and raised price expectations. ANZ New Zealand Chief Economist Sharon Zollner says the survey had hit a 30-year high in December, and there were positives despite the headline.
Indonesia’s stock market plunged nearly 10% this week after global index provider MSCI warned it might reduce the country’s weightings in its index if regulators didn’t enforce greater free-floats for listed companies. Khoon says the rout also hurt the currency, which Bank Indonesia has been trying to support.
Cheers,
Bernard.
Catch you next week with an in-depth preview of the RBA decision.
