Monday 19th August 2019

The surprise news on Friday were reports that the German government might relax some of its spending rules to splash out and prevent a recession. Phil Dobbie talks to NAB’s Tapas Strickland about the market reaction. It was a grim day for data, however, with US sentiment falling further and NZ manufacturing contracting for the first time in seven years. Today is also the date that Huawei’s temporary licence to deal with US companies – the reprieve issued in May – is due to expire, but an extension is expected. Boris Johnson will tell the Europeans that parliament can’t block a no-deal Brexit, when he visits later in the week. And all eyes will be on what Jerome Powell has to say at the Jackson Hole summit at the end of the week, with a rate cut fully priced in for the next Fed meeting.