Wednesday 1st March, 2017

The US dollar and equities were slightly lower overnight as the nation – and the world – awaits President Trump’s appearance at a joint session of Congress later today. Phil Dobbie asks NAB’s Tapas Strickland whether he will say anything new. The slight downturn in markets presumably suggests not. Meanwhile there was mixed US data overnight, yet a rising expectation of a March rate hike. Today’s PCE deflator figures will be important to watch for more clues on that. And Australia’s GDP figures are released this morning. Does the NAB still expect 0.9% growth in the last quarter?