Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.2% to 7,133.00
- Dow Average up 0.2% to 31,928.62
- Aussie little changed at 0.7108 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield fell 9.8bps to 2.7524%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 0.9bps to 2.82%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 1bp to 3.32%
- Gold spot up 0.7% to $1,866.48
- Brent futures up 0.4% to $113.87/bbl
Economic Events
- 9:45am: (AU) RBA’s Ellis-Speech
- 11am: (AU) Australia to Sell A$300 Million 1.75% 2051 Bonds
- 11:30am: (AU) 1Q Construction Work Done, est. 1.0%, prior -0.4%
Stocks are set to remain under pressure in Asia Wednesday after a sharp selloff in technology shares and mounting worries that Federal Reserve tightening will plunge the US into recession. The dollar fell with Treasury yields.
Futures slipped in Japan and Hong Kong, but ticked up in Australia. US contracts edged up in early Asia trading.
Chinese stocks will be in focus as the market’s focus on China’s strict Covid policy outweighs broad measures to support growth. China’s central bank and banking regulator urged lenders to boost loans in the latest effort to shore up the battered economy. Chinese shares traded in the US tanked.
Treasuries rallied as investors sought haven assets, while dialing back the expected pace of Federal Reserve hikes. Money-market traderspriced in about 135 basis points of rate increases over the central bank’s next three policy meetings, down from about 141 basis points at Monday’s close.
Other News
The Bank of England’s first ever book which vows to make learning about the economy ‘accessible’ to the masses has been branded ‘conceited’ and ‘patronising’ by critics.
For £14.99, Can’t We Just Print Money? promises to explain the subject in ’10 bamboozling questions’, because ‘many of us have no idea how the economy actually works’.
One section of the book explains the concept of inflation via the Freddo, the somewhat iconic frog-shaped chocolate bar from Cadbury’s which cost 10p in 2002 but is now priced at 25p.
Richard Murphy, a professor of accounting practice and co-founder of the Green New Deal, wrote in his initial review: ‘The first impression of the Bank of England’s new book on economics is that it’s conceited and patronising… I am hoping it improves as it goes on, because it needs to.’
Other social media users mocked the title of the book, with one tweeting: ‘Can’t we just print more money… you already did that, it’s led to 7% inflation and still growing with 10% predicted by your own governor, along with apocalyptic food prices.’
It comes as the bank is under pressure to reduce inflation after the headline CPI rate – a measure of all consumer goods and services purchased by households – rose to 9 per cent in April – up from 7 per cent in March. It is now the highest level since 1982.
The bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey, told MPs at a committee hearing on Monday that a ‘very real income shock’ is coming this year as prices spiral – and that surging inflation would hit household spending, causing unemployment to rise.
However the boss, who earns £570,000 per year, stoked fury from everyday Britons after telling them to not ask for pay rises, despite the cost of living crisis, in an attempt to dampen the rocketing inflation.
The institution’s book, offering a ‘crash course in economics’, is the brainchild of governor Bailey, and is written in the style of other successful ‘pop economics’ titles, such as Economics For Dummies or Freakonomics, the bestseller by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.
In another extract, Bank staff taking more chips than they need at the canteen is used to illustrate excessive economic growth depleting natural resources.
Some 3,000 copies of the book have been distributed to school libraries across Britain.
Funds raised from sales will be used to supply further copies to schools and to support the Bank’s wider education programme.
(Daily Mail)
