US stocks and bonds strengthened shortly after the US Federal Reserve held its key policy rate as expected and on hopes the US economy is slowing in line with Fed expectations.
In our bonus deep-dive interview, ANZ’s China Senior Strategist Zhaopeng Xing explains why this week’s National Financial Work Conference in China is much more important than it sounds.
5 things to know
The FOMC held the Fed Funds Rate in a 5.25% to 5.5% range at 5am AEST, as expected. ANZ’s Head of G3 Economics Brian Martin says a rate hike isn’t completely off the table, but rates are likely to have peaked.
Brian says markets reacted positively by 5.15 am AEST to signs of slowing US GDP growth earlier overnight, lowering expectations for a hike next month. That pushed bond yields down and US stocks up. The US 10 year Treasury bond yield was down 6bps at 4.80%. The S&P 500 was up 0.5%. The Aussie dollar was up at 63.81 USc. The Kiwi was up at 58.46 USc.
Australia’s building approvals fell 4.6% in September and remain around decade lows, says ANZ Australia’s Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell.
New Zealand’s labour market eased again in Q3, says ANZ Economist for New Zealand Henry Russell.
Indonesia’s inflation data yesterday was benign, but that doesn’t mean the pressure is off the central bank, says ANZ’s Asia economist Krystal Tan.
Cheers
Bernard
