The tariff war skirmishes get messy

Kia ora,

Welcome to Wednesday’s Economy Watch where we follow the economic events and trends that affect Aotearoa/New Zealand.

I'm David Chaston and this is the international edition from Interest.co.nz.

And today we lead with news the gears of the global economy are grinding disconcertingly as the unnecessary trade war is prosecuted with little strategy and no apparent viable end game.

But first up today, the latest full dairy auction brought an overall rise of +1.6% in USD. However, the fall and fall of the USD has completely undermined this result, with prices in NZD falling -2.1%. In USD all categories except SMP rose, and demand was strong from "North Asia" (ie China). Milk fats were in demand, while global milk supply is waning in the major producers, underpinning the demand. Pity about the currency effect.

Inflation is showing up in the retail trade in the US, with the weekly Redbook index up +6.6% from the same week a year ago. There is no way that reflects a volume rise

Business activity continued to fall in March in the New York Fed's factory survey in the New York state. New order levels extended their decline/

In Canada, their CPI inflation rate eased lower to 2.3% in March. That is after the eight-month high of 2.6% in February. The March result was tamer than expected (2.6%) and below forecasts by the central bank of 2.5%. It comes after some GST and other tax changes earlier have now been flushed through their data. The Bank of Canada next meets to review its official policy rate later today, but it will be the economic impact of their unfriendly neighbour that will dominate policy, rather than current inflation. They will likely hold off making rate changes for now, keeping the 2.75% policy rate. That is a change from the earlier expected cut.

Canadian housing starts came in weak in March, down more than -11% from the same month a year ago.

India CPI inflation rate fell in March to 3.3%, its lowest since 2019. Food price inflation fell to 2.7%. Both were much lower than expected and well below the central bank's policy rate mid point of 4%.

Indian exports rose sharply in March from February in the normal seasonal pattern. Their imports rose even more so their trade deficit grew from the prior month, although only back to its usual level.

In China, they are cancelling their orders for Boeing aircraft, a blow to the US aircraft industry.

In February, EU industrial production rose, a surprise gain and the best monthly gain in two years.

But that wasn't an indicator for economic sentiment. The latest ZEW survey reveals a sharp deterioration as they watched the US turn away from friend to foe, making them feel boxed in between the US and Russia. It was a shift reminiscent of the uncertainty during the pandemic.

And it seems that trade talks between the US and the EU are making "litte" (ir no) progress.

In Australia, the latest release of the RBA minutes was a dull affair, giving little guidance on how they are going to deal with the trade and inflation challenges. It's all 'wait-and-see' and 'respond-to-data' for them. But they do claim to be in a good position to be able to act decisively if it is needed. A cut on May 20 is still possible however.

OPEC's latest monthly review lowered its demand outlook, although some observers thought the smallness of the cutback was brave in the circumstances.

And we should also note that there are now three elections due soon. Canada goes to the polls on April 28. Australia votes on May 3. And now a snap election has also been called in Singapore, also for May 3. Being Singapore, that unsurprisingly leaves very little time for campaigning. All these elections will have the Trump shadow hanging over them, and it very much helps campaigning to present an anti-Trump stance. Trump has resurrected the fortunes of the centre-left candidates, enough to cancel the anti-incumbent mood.

The UST 10yr yield is now at 4.33%, down another -4 bps from this time yesterday.

The price of gold will start today at just on US$3229/oz, and up +US$16 from yesterday.

Oil prices have firmed marginally, up +50 USc from yesterday to be now at US$61.50/bbl in the US and the international Brent price is now just over US$64.50/bbl.

The Kiwi dollar is now at 59.1 USc, up +30 bps from yesterday at this time and the highest since mid-December. The fall of the USD extends. Against the Aussie we are down -10 bps at 92.9 AUc. Against the euro we up +30 bps from yesterday at just on 52.4 euro cents. That all means our TWI-5 starts today now just under 67.6 and up +30 bps from yesterday.

The bitcoin price starts today at US84,616 and holding again, up a mere +0.1% from this time yesterday. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been modest at +/- 1.2%.

You can find links to the articles mentioned today in our show notes.

You can get more news affecting the economy in New Zealand from interest.co.nz.

Kia ora. I'm David Chaston. And we will do this again tomorrow.