- Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Barr speaking Tuesday
- Media reports that China will remove tariffs on Australian wine at the end of March
- FT says "China props up renminbi ahead of leadership summit in March"
- Kansas City Federal Reserve President Schmid is the new Hawk on the block
- Bitcoin Soars as Microstrategy Invests $155mn, halving a background fundamental too
- Standard Chartered suspended new offshore flows via QDII channel out of China
- Bank of England Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden speaking on Tuesday
- More from Fed's Schmid: Would be a mistake to consider cryptocurrency as a currency
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 7.1057 (vs. estimate at 7.1945)
- US Treasury Secretary Yellen says inflation to fall in 80% of economies in 2024
- Fed's Schmid: Not out of high inflation yet, Fed should be patient on cuts
- UK February shop prices rose at their slowest pace since March 2022
- Deutsche Bank on a record run for US equities - with no mean reversion in sight ahead
- Japan January 2024 CPI: Core CPI +2.0% y/y (vs. 1.8% expected)
- JP Morgan's 3 reasons corporate earnings are headed lower, see "disappointing profits"
- US President Biden President will meet with Congressional leaders at 11.30 am Tuesday
- Australian weekly consumer confidence survey 83.2 (prior 82.8)
- Barclays says the US equity rally is going to take a 'breather'
- Forexlive Americas FX news wrap 26 Feb: Quiet Monday with limited data and price action.
- RBNZ Governor Orr has a huge barrage of media interviews scheduled in the days ahead
- Santander (US) says the Federal Reserve's FOMC may delay rate cuts until after US election
- RBNZ meet on Wednesday - previews
- US stocks close moderately lower
- Trade ideas thread - Tuesday, 27 February, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas
The key focus for the session was on January inflation data from Japan. Japan's core inflation (excluding food) dropped for the third straight month to hit its lowest level in 22 months. Median estimates were for 1.8% y/y but it came in at 2.0%, matching the BoJ target. All three inflation measures declined from December. The higher than central estimates, though, contributed fuel for those looking for a BoJ tightening and sent the yen to gains on the session, albeit in a small range only. While the inflation data lends some support to the prospect of a March or April tightening, the Bank of Japan will now be eyeing preliminary Shunto (wage negotiation) results due a few days (around the middle of March) before the next meeting (18 and 19 March).
Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Schmid gave his first major speech in his new role (he replaced Esther George). He urged patience on interest-rate cuts saying he’s worried that the inflation battle is not over and that regardless the Bank can be patient. Schmid sounded more hawkish than dovish.
The other item of interest was the continued rise of Bitcoin and other crypto. BTC/USD added to its gains, hitting circa USD57K while ETH rose to above $3250. ICYMI the latest surge has been attributed to a “whale” buy, that is, Microstrategy bought around $155mn of BTC (around 3000 BTC) between February 15 and 25 at a price circa 51,800.
AUD rose after news crossed that China would be removing tariffs on Australian wine at the end of March. This news coincided with wider USD weakness (small only) which saw rises too for NZD, CAD, EUR, GBP – all in tight ranges.
