Key Points:
• Soaring inflation forecasts are threatening to throw world economies into recession
• Japanese Manufacturing for May 53.2 vs prior 53.5
• China is showing further support for Russia and wants to erode dominance of the US Dollar as sanctions ramp up
• NZ first Q Retail Sales -0.5% vs expectations of 0.3%- last Q 2021 was 8.6%
• Fed’s Bostic is calling for a 50 point rise in September is inflation is still high
• According to ECB’s Villeroy, a rate hike in the near term is probably a done deal
• Russia is studying a peace plan to the Russia/Ukraine war proposed by Italy
• Banks slash China 2022 growth forecasts from 4.2% to 3.0% as economy contracts
• The Euro (EUR) is the strongest currency this week with the United States Dollar (USD) the weakest.
• Iron ore bounces off 122.00 lows back to 132.00 assisting the AUD higher
Major Announcements last week:
US Core Retail Sales m/m 0.6% vs 0.4% predicted
UK CPI y/y 9.0% up from 7.0%
Australian unemployment remains at 3.9% bang on expectations
UK Retail Sales m/m 1.4% for April vs -0.3% expected
Scott Morrison and the Australian Liberal government have been beaten by the Labor party with Anthony Albanese set to become Australia’s 31st prime minister