📉📈 Asian markets are trading mixed this morning, following a soft U.S. close:
🇨🇳 China is flat to slightly up (0.00–0.10%)
🇯🇵 JP225 +0.10%
🇦🇺 AU200 -0.30%
🇸🇬 SG20 -0.30%
📉 U.S. index CFDs are down 0.10–0.20%.
🇪🇺 European markets also point to a soft open.
📌 Focus of the day:
🕗 At 20:00 GMT, markets await the Trump administration’s tariff decision.
🕙 Before that, we’ll see the ADP jobs report for March — an early snapshot of the labour market.
📰 From yesterday:
🇺🇸 WSJ reports the U.S. Treasury & Commerce Depts have proposed a broad tariff hike (up to 20%) for selected countries.
💬 Treasury Secretary Bessent: Tariffs are a “cap” and may be lowered later.
💶💵 Small boost seen in EUR, AUD & NZD — though gains faded.
🇦🇺 RBA’s Kent raised the OMO repo rate by 5 bps (now +10 bps above cash rate), calling it a technical tweak, not a policy shift. Still, AUD is gaining.
🇯🇵 BoJ’s Ueda warned U.S. tariffs could dent global trade.
📈 USDJPY is up 0.18%, trading near 149.88.
📺 Chicago Fed’s Goolsbee:
✅ U.S. economy = solid hard data
⚠️ Confidence = collapsing
🛑 Tariffs = supply shock risk → potential inflation
🏗️ In New Zealand:
🧱 Feb building permits +0.7% MoM (vs +2.6% prior)
📉 YoY -7.8% (vs +10.6% in Jan)
🪙 NZD barely moved, still reacting to tariff news.
🇩🇪 In Europe:
Germany’s banking association slashed its 2025 GDP forecast to just +0.2% (from 0.7%).
📈 Rebound to 1.4% expected in 2026 thanks to gov’t spending.