Yen's weakness continue in quiet trading today and trades a touch softer after trade balance release. But overall, the markets are trading in tight range. The only exception is New Zealand Dollar which is resuming this month's broad based rally ahead of RBNZ rate decision on Thursday. Sterling recovers mildly as Brexit negotiations are finally starting today. Dollar and Euro are mixed. In other markets, gold is trading in tight range between 1250/60 for the moment. WTI crude oil is also range bound below 45 handle.
Brexit negotiation finally starts
UK is set to finally start formal Brexit negotiations with EU in European Commission buildings in Brussels today. UK's Brexit Secretary David Davis said that there is a "long road ahead" but that will lead to a "deep and special partnership", "a deal like no other in history". He also pledged to approach the difficulties in a "constructive way". The negotiations would start with EU's top priorities including the divorce bill, rights of citizens and border of Ireland. Meanwhile, EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier would report in October this year on whether there are sufficient progress to move on to phase two of trade agreements. And it's expected that the whole talks would last until October 2018 before making an agreement. Davis and Barnier would be meeting for one week every month and return to their base to develop the positions.
Yen weakens after trade surplus miss
In Japan, trade surplus narrowed to JPY 0.13% in May, below expectation of 0.35T. Export growth was flat monthly at 0.0% mom. But annually, exports jumped 14.9% yoy, highest since 2015. Nevertheless, that was below expectation of 18.2% yoy. It's also overshadowed by the 0.3% mom, 17.8% yoy rise in imports. Yen trades a touch lower today, accompanying the rise in Asian equities. Nikkei is back above 20000 handle and is trading up 0.6% at the time of writing. Hong Kong HSI is trading up 0.95%. Meanwhile, China SSE (LON:SSE) composite is up 0.66%.
RBA Lowe expects stronger economy ahead
RBA Governor Philip Lowe said in a speech in Canberra that growth in Australia over the next couple of years will be "a bit stronger than it has been recently". And, the "pick-up in the global economy is helping us". He noted that monetary policy continues to provide support to the economy and "survey-based measures of business conditions have improved noticeably". He also added that "employment growth has also strengthened over recent months." But he also warned that wage growth is "unusually low" and averages hours worked have "declined". Also, the "nature of employment is changing" while there are higher debt levels for households. He emphasized the need to watch these issues carefully.
RBNZ a focus in a light week ahead
The economic calendar is rather light today and the only notable events are speeches of Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann, New York Fed President William Dudley and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans. Looking ahead, RBNZ rate decision is a key focus this week and it's expected to keep the OCR unchanged at 1.75%. RBA and BoJ will release meeting minutes while ECB will release monthly economic bulletin. The more important economic data are scheduled to release towards the end of the week, including Canada retail sales and CPI and Eurozone PMIs.