Morning Brief – Rate Decision

According to the official policy statement from the RBNZ the Reserve Bank of New Zealand remain increasingly concerned about inflation and the Ukraine war.

Last month the month-on-month inflation rate rose by 1.8 percent, marking another sharp increase from the previous 1.4 percent increase.

The New Zealand dollar is currently trading at its weakest trading level against the US dollar currency since mid-2021 due to the strengthening US dollar and weak growth prospects.

Last month the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its official cash rate (OCR) by 50 bps to 2% during the May meeting, the 5th straight rate hike, matching market consensus.

The Bank of Korea, which is South Korea’s central bank also raised its base rate to 2.25% from 1.75% earlier today. The 50basis point hike comes as the central bank battles inflationary pressure.

In other news the euro currency remains pressured on energy news. Germany’s Deputy Finance Minister has been on the worse and has noted that Germany will be off Russian coal by August 1st, and it will also be off Russian oil in December.

Twitter has also announced that it is going to sue Elon Musk in a Delaware court for violating $44 billion merger agreement. Twitter seeks court order forcing Musk to close the acquisition at $54.20 per Twitter share.

Markets are still nervous about COVID-19 news, after Shanghai announced lockdown in Wugang city of Henan Province. The fears of more cases are keeping the market in edge.

European market looks to a raft of Consumer Price Index data from Europe this morning. German CPI data is likely to be the focus although we do also have French and Spanish inflation figures being released.

Of course, the main market today will be the U.S. CPI print. During yesterday’s U.S. trading session reports surfaced that the monthly number could be as high as 1.3 percent.