The International Energy Agency releases a record 400 million barrels, but oil is back up 5% as the Middle East conflict deepens. US core inflation falls in February. The Australian dollar has strengthened in recent days after hawkish RBA comments.
And then in part 2 of a deep-dive interview on the outlook for Australia’s agri sectors, ANZ’s Head of Agribusiness Mark Bennett analyses the prospects for dairy and wool.
5 things to know in 5 minutes:
The International Energy Agency announced the release of 400 million barrels of oil overnight. That’s a record single release, but was still not enough to stop WTI futures rising nearly 5% as traders assessed the ongoing impact of the Middle East conflict. Meanwhile, US core CPI inflation fell to 0.2% in February from 0.3%. ANZ Economist in London Henry Russell says an underlying disinflation trend was intact prior to the Middle East conflict.
The Australian dollar has been strengthening in recent days. ANZ Head of FX Research Mahjabeen Zaman says there are a number of factors driving the Aussie up, including hawkish comments from the RBA.
Japan’s goods producer price index came in slightly lower than expected in February at 2% year on year. Mahjabeen says, even with the undershoot, some cost pressures are still flowing through rather than there being disinflationary momentum.
ANZ New Zealand card spending rose 0.6% in February to be 4.4% higher than a year ago. ANZ New Zealand Chief Economist Sharon Zollner says the rise fits with New Zealand’s general economic recovery story.
China’s recently announced annual growth target for 2026 was the lowest since 1991. However, iron ore prices moved up slightly. ANZ Senior Commodities Strategist Daniel Hynes explains why.
Cheers
Bernard.
PS: Catch you tomorrow with a look at the US trade balance for January to see whether tariffs continued to affect imports.
