Thursday 13th June 2019

President Trump has refocused his attention on Europe, threatening sanctions if Germany pushes ahead with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia. As NAB’s Gavin Friend explains, the news had an immediate impact on the Euro, which had been trading relatively flat. Phil Dobbie asks him why, despite investor expectations the ECB continues to avoid talk of rate cuts. It’s a different story in the US, with the Fed likely to be the next central bank to move, reinforced by slightly weaker CPI figures overnight. They also discuss rate cuts at the RBA, with the banks latest estimate of NAIRU (the unemployment rate at which wage rises kick in) at 4.5%, possibly lower. And a move to block no-deal in the UK parliament was defeated, but don’t assume that means a no-deal Brexit is any more likely. There’s more can kicking to come.