Oil prices jump as the Middle East conflict widens to attacks on Saudi Arabian cities. Australian consumer and business confidence slides as inflation concerns grow. And China’s trade surges with rising chip prices.
In our deep-dive interview, ANZ’s Senior Commodities Strategist Daniel Hynes details the fallout from extended delays to normalising oil supply from the Persian Gulf.
5 things to know in 5 minutes:
Australian consumer confidence measured by the ANZ Roy Morgan survey fell for a second week running last week, in line with growing expectations the Reserve Bank of Australia will hike its cash rate again at the end of this month, says ANZ Economist Sophia Angala.
Higher fuel prices and lower house prices are also dragging on Australian consumer confidence, says Sophia.
Business confidence in Australia also took a hit in August, says Sophia, pointing to a second consecutive monthly fall to a six-year low in the NAB survey out yesterday.
The Japanese yen has bounced sharply in recent days, helped by speculation of intervention over the long Labor Day weekend in US markets, and after more talk the Bank of Japan will have to hike to deal with inflation pressures. Wages figures out yesterday reinforced that story, with annual wages growth of 4.7% in July coming in well above expectations for a 3.8% rise, says ANZ’s Head of FX Strategy Mahjabeen Zaman.
China’s trade figures were strong in August, with growth of 25% in exports and 28% in imports. ANZ Economist Vicky Xiao Zhou points to the AI and data centre boom making up 25% of exports and 35% of imports.
Cheers,
Bernard.
PS: Catch you tomorrow with a look ahead to US inflation data and an expected rate hike in Europe.
