Latest news with #StellaQiu
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Morning Bid: Trump-Musk feud shakes markets pre-payrolls
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Stella Qiu It could be the most expensive breakup ever. The bromance-turned-to-brawl between U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk sparked a 14% drop in Tesla shares overnight, wiping out $150 billion in market value. Then there's the tens of billions of dollars in SpaceX government contracts that Trump has threatened to cut. High-stakes political drama aside, investors have not lost sight of the U.S. payrolls report looming later in the day, after a run of soft economic data this week left markets wary of a downside surprise. Any unexpected weakness in the U.S. labour market could be enough to get the Federal Reserve's policy-makers thinking again about rate cuts, after sitting on their hands since December to assess the inflationary impact of Trump's tariffs. The Trump-Musk feud was not without wider consequences for markets, though. Even bitcoin prices tumbled 4% overnight as investors reckoned Trump's support should perhaps not be counted on indefinitely. Asian technology shares followed Wall Street lower, helping to nudge most of the region's stock markets into negative territory. Japan's Nikkei was an exception, rising 0.3%. There were signs in the Asia morning on Friday that tempers may be cooling down a bit, with Trump telling Politico that "it's okay" when asked about the breakup and Tesla stocks steadying in after-hours trading. In the meantime, investors found little reason to cheer the phone call on trade between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which produced little more than an agreement to talk further. As for the U.S. payrolls, forecasts are centred on a rise of 130,000 jobs in May, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.2%. Fed funds futures imply little chance of a rate cut until September, although a move at that time is about 90% priced in with another expected in December. Worries of a downside surprise on payrolls kept markets subdued. Wall Street futures were mostly flat and European markets are set for a lower open, with EUROSTOXX 50 futures down 0.2%. In the currency markets, the euro rose to a six-week high of $1.1495 overnight after the European Central Bank cut rates but signalled it was nearing the end of its policy easing cycle. Investors have given up on the chances of a cut in July, while the final move is expected in December. Key developments that could influence markets on Friday: -- German industrial output, trade data for April -- Eurozone retail sales for April -- U.S. nonfarm payrolls for May (By Stella Qiu; Editing by Edmund Klamann) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Australia raises minimum wages by 3.5% as inflation eases
By Renju Jose and Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's independent wage-setting body on Tuesday raised the national minimum wage by 3.5% effective July 1, a real wage increase for about 2.6 million workers on the lowest pay as inflationary pressures ease in the economy. The minimum rate will rise to A$24.94 ($16.19) per hour, resulting in an extra A$1,670 in a year for full-time employees, according to the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual review. Headline consumer price inflation held at 2.4% in the first quarter, comfortably within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band of 2% to 3% and having come down from the 7.8% peak in late 2022. FWC President Adam Hatcher said the decision could help many workers to recoup the loss of their real income over the last few years due to high living costs. "If this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, a loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded ... and a reduction of living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched," Hatcher said. Last year, the FWC increased minimum wages by 3.75% but that was largely in line with inflation. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) described the wage increase as "a great outcome" for employees on minimum wages, who it said suffered the most when inflation soared after the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our lowest-paid workers are getting ahead again," ACTU Secretary Sally McManus told reporters. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a two-year low last month as cooling inflation at home offered scope to counter rising global trade risks, and left the door open to further easing in the months ahead. At the same time, the labour market has remained surprisingly resilient, with the jobless rate hovering at 4.1% for over a year now. Employment gains have been driven by a surge in public sector jobs, with still tepid wage growth suggesting few risks of a damaging wage-price spiral. ($1 = 1.5401 Australian dollars)
Time of India
23-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Australia's new haul of Chinese online goods helps tame inflation
HighlightsChinese e-commerce platforms Alibaba's Taobao and have entered the Australian market, aiming to capitalize on the growing demand for affordable online shopping options among Australian consumers. The Reserve Bank of Australia has indicated that the influx of inexpensive Chinese goods could lead to a reduction in inflation rates by 20-50 basis points, contributing to their decision to cut interest rates. With Australia relying heavily on Chinese imports for various consumer goods, the expansion of Chinese e-commerce is expected to further intensify disinflationary pressures in the Australian economy. By Stella Qiu As businesses globally fret about sky-high U.S. tariffs reviving rampant inflation, in Australia, the redirection of cheap Chinese goods is expected to provide relief for consumers and policymakers worried about stubborn cost pressures. Alibaba's Taobao and are the latest Chinese e-commerce platforms to enter the Australian market, seeking to tap into the bargain-starved country's appetite for online deals. The expected flood of cheap goods from China, on top of a recent slowdown in inflation, is among several reasons the central bank felt confident enough to cut interest rates this week. In an economy like Australia's that manufactures very few finished products domestically, Taobao is finding new markets outside of its core Chinese-speaking consumer base. "I don't shop a lot, but if I do buy something, I will buy it online... If I can get it cheaper through Taobao, 100% I'll buy from them," said Jodi Clarke, a therapist in Melbourne, whose first purchase on the site included three look-alike Hermes Kelly bags for A$129 ($83.24). China's factories are rushing to reach more new markets overseas as the domestic economy slows, with U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs making it much more difficult to access the U.S., the world's largest consumer market. Frederic Neumann, chief Asian economist and co-head of global research at HSBC, said the expansion of Chinese e-commerce platforms overseas will intensify disinflation pressures, especially for consumer goods. "What the world is facing is a growing inflation divergence between the U.S. and other economies, with prices climbing in the former, and stabilising, if not outright declining, in the latter," said Neumann. While the flood of Chinese goods has raised alarms in manufacturing-dependent countries in Southeast Asia, Australia's overwhelming reliance on imports for many household items diminishes most such concerns. The Reserve Bank of Australia judges recent global trade developments to be disinflationary in net terms for Australia, one of the reasons it opened the door to more interest rate cuts on Tuesday. "Because Australia has a higher share of Chinese products in most parts of its import basket compared with other economies, the redirection of tariff-affected exports is likely to place additional downward pressure on Australian import prices, especially in the short term," the RBA said in its quarterly economic update this week. Australia bought a whopping A$110 billion of goods last year from China, easily its biggest trading partner. Chinese trade data for April showed exports to Australia jumped 9% from the previous month while shipments to the U.S. tumbled almost 18%. The RBA also noted cheap goods from China are unlikely to displace much Australian production and could even benefit industries reliant on imported inputs, such as clothing retailers. Goldman Sachs has estimated the redirection of Chinese goods into Australia, particularly in toys, furniture and clothing, could subtract 20-50 basis points from headline inflation over the next year or two. Those forecasts were made before China and the U.S. agreed to pause steep tariffs this month. Headline consumer price inflation held at 2.4% in the first quarter, comfortably within the RBA's target band of 2% to 3% and having come down from the 7.8% peak in late 2022. INCREASED COMPETITION Chinese e-commerce platforms are not completely new in Australia, with Temu already capturing big chunks of online sales, but their broadening appeal to Australians comes as they wrestle with lingering cost-of-living pressures. Singapore-based online fast-fashion retailer Shein, which sells clothes made in China, earlier this month held a pop-up store in Sydney and launched its first Australia-focused brand, Aralina. Alibaba had been a low-key cross-border player until last year when it started investing aggressively to boost global sales, including in Australia. Its main competitor also launched its Australian site in March. The push was initially designed to reach more Chinese buyers overseas, but Trump's tariff chaos thrust those e-commerce sites into the spotlight, with Taobao now offering an English version of the app. Taobao is already promoting sales in English for the annual "618" shopping festival on June 18, one of China's largest. It offers free shipping to Australia for clothes worth more than 249 yuan ($34.25). Consumers interviewed by Reuters say Taobao's app is easy to use and has translation functions to help communicate with sellers. High shipping costs can sometimes be a hindrance, but in some cases it is still cheaper than buying locally. The site's growing profile in English-speaking communities has elevated the "Taobao haul" trend on TikTok in markets like Australia. Australian consumer Jessica Cox shared her first Taobao experience on social media, which included purchases of imitations of AirPods Max headphones. She also bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner and New Balance shoes, which were on the way. "I thought I'd give it a try as a lot of people were saying they are pretty close to being mirror fakes," she said.
Mint
23-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Dollar under pressure and all eyes on Treasuries as U.S. fiscal anxiety rises
By Naomi Rovnick, Stella Qiu LONDON/SYDNEY (Reuters) -The dollar headed for its first weekly fall in five weeks against major currencies on Friday and long-dated Treasury yields stayed elevated, as U.S. debt concerns that have mounted for years started driving moves in currencies and global debt. Investor attention has switched from tariff anxiety to U.S. fiscal concerns in a week where Moody's downgraded the U.S. credit rating and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday passed a sweeping tax and spending bill. Futures contracts tracking Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 share index were steady in European morning trade as investors balanced the tax-cut boost to corporate earnings with longer-term concerns about the U.S. economy. "It's good for corporates initially, and clearly you're seeing the flip side of that in Treasury markets," Netwealth CIO Iain Barnes said. But with long-dated debt yields' tendency to impact valuations of other assets, from global currencies to stocks, he said investors were nervous that any further volatility in 30-year Treasuries could start rippling across global markets. "Multi-asset investors' primary concern is thinking about how these different asset classes respond to each other," he said, adding that he was keeping his own portfolios broadly diversified and neutral on market risk for now, in line with much of the investment industry. With the U.S debt pile already at $36 trillion, President Donald Trump's plans to slash taxes, cut federal budgets and boost military and border enforcement spending has sparked rollercoaster moves in the long-term debt yields that set the nation's borrowing costs. The 30-year Treasury yield was 4 basis points lower but held just above 5% after hitting a 19-month high in the previous session. "There is certainly nothing in this market move or the passage of this version of the bill that tells me there is going to be meaningful reduction in U.S. bond issuance or this broader concern about global bond supply," said Ken Crompton, senior interest rate strategist at the National Australia Bank. Yields on 30-year Japanese bonds, which hit record highs earlier in the week as selling driven by domestic fiscal and inflation concerns was exacerbated by moves in U.S. debt, recovered slightly, declining by 5 bps to around 3.10%. Data on Friday showed Japan's core consumer price inflation climbed 3.5% in April in its steepest annual increase for more than two years, raising pressure on the Bank of Japan to keep hiking interest rates. In the euro area, German Bund yields dipped on but stayed on track for their fifth straight weekly rise, tracking U.S. Treasuries. The benchmark European debt has sold off despite money markets showing that traders anticipate the European Central Bank cutting its main deposit rate to about 1.75% by year-end. In currency markets, the euro firmed 0.5% to $1.1335. An index tracking the U.S. currency against a basket of peers including the euro and Japan's yen, was 0.2% lower and down 1.3% on the week in its first weekly drop since late April. Despite the euro's gain, which tends to knock exporters' shares, Europe's Stoxx 600 share index gained 0.3% in early dealings and Germany's Xetra Dax added 0.4%, as traders stayed cautious towards U.S. assets. Japan's Nikkei also gained 0.5% on Friday, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising by the same amount. Bitcoin prices dipped from its record high but it was still set for a weekly gain of 6.4% to $110,796. Oil prices dropped for a fourth consecutive session and were set for their first weekly decline in three weeks, weighed down by renewed supply pressure from another possible OPEC output hike in July. Brent futures fell 0.85% to $63.89 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.9% to $60.65. In precious metals, gold prices rose just over 1% to $3,321 an ounce. To read Reuters Markets and Finance news, click on For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click on: (Reporting by Naomi Rovnick and Stella Qiu; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and x)
Daily Maverick
23-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Asian shares make cautious gains as beaten-down Treasuries find support
By Stella Qiu SYDNEY, May 23 (Reuters) – Asian shares made some tentative gains on Friday as beaten-down Treasuries found buyers after US President Donald Trump's tax bill narrowly passed the lower house, although debt worries still lingered. Overnight, PMI data around the globe showed US business activity picked up pace in May, which helped Wall Street rise earlier in the session before running into selling pressures and closing the day largely flat. In contrast, disappointingly weak activity in Europe dragged shares there lower. Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures both were flat. The Republican-controlled US House voted by a slim margin to pass Trump's tax cut bill, which would fulfil many of his campaign pledges, but will increase the $36.2 trillion US debt pile by $3.8 trillion over the next decade. Treasury yields, especially at the longer-dated end, have climbed on worries about US fiscal health in the run-up to the passage of the bill. That was exacerbated by the decision from Moody's last week to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, citing rising debt. The 30-year bonds, however, did manage to find some buyers overnight with prices now at some attractive levels. Their yields fell another 1 basis point to 5.037% on Friday, having dropped 4 bps to pull away from a 19-month top of 5.161% earlier in the session. 'Maybe the certainty of getting something through has been enough to alleviate some of the fear, panic in the market, but as well as that, it is not unusual in big moves for there to be a bit of overshoot,' said Ken Crompton, senior interest rate strategist at the National Australia Bank. 'There is certainly nothing in this market move or the passage of this version of the bill that tells me there is going to be meaningful reductions in US bond issuance or this broader concern about global bond supply.' In Asia, yields on super-long Japanese government bonds (JGBs) held near all-time highs on Friday. The 30-year yields have jumped 23 basis points this week and were last at 3.175%, which is being monitored closely by the Bank of Japan. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1% on Friday but for the week it is still set for a loss of 0.4% after five weeks of gains. Chinese blue chips and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were largely flat. Japan's Nikkei rose 1% as data showed Japan's core inflation accelerated at its fastest annual pace in more than two years in April. In the currency market, the dollar was on the back foot again and is headed for a weekly drop of 1.2% against its major peers. The euro is set for the first weekly rise after four weeks of declines, and was up 0.2% on Friday at $1.1302. US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he still sees a path to rate cuts later this year, but noted that the outlook depends on where Trump's tariff policy settles. Bitcoin is set for a weekly gain of 7% at $111,524, having touched a record high of $111,965 just on Thursday. Oil prices fell for a fourth straight session on the prospects of further output increases by OPEC+ countries. US crude CLc1 futures dropped 0.7% to $60.76 a barrel and were down 2.7% for the week. Brent fell 0.6% at $64.03 per barrel. In precious metals, gold prices were flat at $3,292 an ounce, but were set for a weekly gain of 2.8%.
