Awful news out of Japan:
- Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe is showing no vital signs
- Ex Japanese Prime Minister Abe shot - unconscious, unresponsive
- More on the shooting of ex Japanese Prime Minister Abe - shot from behind
- The yen is up on the awful news that ex Japanese Prime Minister Abe has been shot
- Ex Japanese Prime Minister Abe has been shot, taken to hospital
- Japan media reports there have been shots fired in the vicinity of ex-PM Abe
Other:
- South Korea measures to relieve cost of living pressures
- European Central Bank President Lagarde is speaking Friday 08 July 2022
- Japan Upper House election this weekend - polls favouring PM Kishida's party
- Bitcoin has risen higher during Asia time, to around $22400
- China's 220bn infrastructure push (being 'considered') is not aggressive stimulus
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.7098 (vs. estimate at 6.7102)
- China - "high-frequency indicators suggest economy contracted" in Q2
- US Nonfarm payroll report due Friday, 8 July 2022 - preview
- Biden meeting with senior advisers on Friday to discuss a path forward on China tariffs
- Shanghai reports 45 new COVID cases, but zero outside quarantine
- China and Russia officials met in Indonesia: China's FM says will promote peace in Ukraine
- Japan data - Household spending for May -0.5% y/y (vs expected 2.1%)
- ICYMI - Chinese policymakers reported to be considering boosting stimulus
- New Zealand Truckometer data - Light Traffic Index -3.4% in June, Heavy Traffic - 2.7%
- TD see a case for "substantial downside for gold in coming sessions"
- More US stockmarket news - GameStop fires its CFO and announces layoffs
- Twitter says it intends to close the deal with Musk on the terms agreed to
- Wall Street Journal: Twitter Lays Off Third Of Talent Team
- Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: PM Johnson resignation, China stimulus help GBP and risk
- US media report that Musk's deal to buy Twitter is 'in peril'
- Poll shows the consensus for a 50bp interest rate hike from the RBNZ next week
- Trade ideas thread - Friday, 8 July 2022
- Stock market close: Fourth day of gains
The headline is the big, tragic news for the session. As I post Abe appears to be in mortal danger.
He was shot in the back, twice, with a shotgun (the gun does not look like a shotgun in photos I’ve seen) from a distance of about 3 metres. Abe was giving a campaign speech (there is an election Japan this weekend). He has been taken to hospital. His condition report is sketchy but from reports:
he is bleeding from the neck
he is unconscious and unresponsive
he is in cardiopulmonary arrest
As I write AFP is reporting Abe is dead, showing no vital signs.
This is awful.
there is more in the top section of the points above. Read from the bottom up for the chronology as it happened.
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The market response was to buy yen and USD. If you are new to markets, when geopolitical news of significance such as this hits there tends to be a flow into liquidity. And yes, it is somewhat gross to discuss market response when it appears that a man who gave his health for Japan (Abe resigned in 2020 due to ill health after serving is PM from 2006-2007 and again from 2012 to 2020) appears to have been shot and killed. People do have exposures to manage though.
The gunman was apprehended moments after firing.
