Donald Trump doubles Canadian steel and aluminium tariffs to 50%, slamming markets again. Australian consumer and business confidence fall a bit. Japan’s GDP is revised down, but strong wage growth is expected to keep the Bank of Japan hiking.
In our bonus deep dive interview, ANZ Economist Dhiraj Nim explains why India’s inflation rate doesn’t look to be a problem for further policy easing.
5 things to know in 5 minutes:
Donald Trump lashed back overnight at a Canadian threat to impose a 25% surcharge on electricity exports from Ontario. Trump announced a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 50%. Stocks fell another 1-2% on investor fears, ANZ Economist Bansi Madhavani says.
The ANZ Roy Morgan Australia Consumer Confidence survey last week found a small fall. Confidence fell most in Queensland as Cyclone Alfred approached.
Sophia says news of global trade uncertainty might also be feeding through to local consumer confidence.
Australian business confidence fell 6 points in February, according to NAB’s survey, while business conditions rose marginally. ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell says businesses appear wary of the global situation as well.
Japan’s Q4 economic growth was revised down from a preliminary annual rate of 2.8% to 2.2% yesterday. But ANZ FX Analyst Felix Ryan says other data, including January’s 3.1% annual wage growth points to the Bank of Japan still normalising policy through 2025.
Cheers,
Bernard
PS: Catch you tomorrow with what the latest CPI inflation data in the US says about price pressures in the world’s largest economy.
