Monday 19th October 2020
After a fairly volatile week markets were calmer on Friday on the back of positive retail numbers from the US. NAB’s Rodrigo Catril says Republicans could use it as an excuse not to support further stimulus measures. There was little market reaction to Boris Johnson’s threats to walk away from Brexit negotiations, perhaps because ‘walking away’ has been shown to mean ‘keep talking’. Jacinda Ardern’s election victory is unlikely to see a market response because it too was entirely expected. Today’s GDP numbers from China will show how their economic recovery continues, whilst any volatility this week is likely to be driven by rising COVID-19 numbers, news of related government restrictions, Brexit talks and the US election circus.
-
Why Steve Keen is voting Liberal in the Aussie election
Why is a progressive economist voting for a conservative government? Is it the right reason? Listen and decide.
-
Powell’s average address
Jerome Powell talked about the Fed’s new approach, aiming to keep inflation average two percent. NAB’s David de Garis says that means they will allow inflation to rise higher – very different to the approach of the ECB. But does it matter, when inflation has been so low for so long?
-
More caution on manufacturing undershoot
US ISM manufacturing numbers were a little less than expected, but NAB’s Rodrigo Catril says it was enough to add to the market’s sense of caution over fears the global recovery is slowing. China’s lower Caixin PMI didn’t help.
