Breakfast Bites - Tue Apr 04, 2023

Rise and shine everyone.

The market still looks bullish this morning, with US Futures slightly higher. Gold and Oil are both marginally. The USD index and long bonds are slightly lower. Bitcoin remains flat.

The major economic data everyone is eyeing today is the JOLTs Job Openings data.

Asia and Australia

• Asia closed mixed this morning - Japan led the region's gainers in a broad-based rally. South Korea's Kospi and Australia's ASX also higher. Greater China mixed with Hong Kong and Shenzhen lower, Shanghai Composite saw a modest gain

• Chinese yuan has replaced dollar as the most traded currency in Russia, according to Bloomberg

• RB Australia leaves cash rate unchanged at 3.6%, softens commitment to further tightening

• China’s Evergrande signs debt restructuring deal with major creditors for $20B of its offshore debt.

• South Korea March CPI rose 4.2%YoY and 0.2% MoM, lowest rate of increase in 12 months and slowing from February's 4.8%

• RBNZ expected to raise official cash rate (OCR) by 25 bp to 5.00% at its 5-Apr policy meeting

Europe, Middle East, Africa

• European equity market firmer - Banks, Insurance and Autos/Parts lead; Energy and Healthcare lag

• Austria's Holzmann still sees potential for ECB to hike 50-bps in May

• L'Oreal buys luxury brand Aesop from Brazil's Natura for $2.5B. I would keep an eye on L’Oreal for a potential buy.

• Credit Suisse's chairman apologized for taking the Swiss bank to the brink of bankruptcy, as he faced shareholder fury over the demise of the once proud flagship.

The Americas

• JPMorgan's Kolanovic says risk-on mood likely to falter due to bank turbulence, oil shock and slowing growth

• Apple eliminating a small number of roles within its corporate retail teams

• Walmart cutting over 2,000 jobs at five US e-commerce fulfillment centers

• Micron says shipments and operations unaffected by cybersecurity review in China

• Merck's lawsuit against Bayer over talc-related liabilities dismissed by Delaware judge

Calendar

(news taken from Reuters, FT, Bloomberg; Calendar from Trading Economics)