Newscasts - Asia Markets Briefing: Hopes kept alive for a BOJ rate hike after inflation ticks up in June

plenum AG

19/07/2024 10:15

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Source: 'Reuters - Business videos'

Description: Japan's inflation accelerated for a second month in June,
bolstering bets of a rate hike from the Bank of Japan. Core inflation rose to
2.6%. This was slightly below predicted by a Reuters poll but it means it has
remained above the central bank's 2% target for over 2 years.
Short Link: https://refini.tv/3xSZQER

Video Transcript:

Hopes for a Bank of Japan rate hike are kept alive after inflation perks up in
June. Welcome to Asia Markets Briefing. I'm Ramzan Karmali. Japan’s
inflation accelerated for a second month in June, bolstering bets of a rate
hike from the Bank of Japan. Core inflation rose to 2.6%, which was slightly
below predicted by a Reuters poll, but it means it has remained above the
central bank's 2% target for over two years. The BOJ exited negative rates
back in March, and policymakers will meet again at the end of this month. The
Plenum, a four-day closed doors meeting led by President Xi Jinping that takes
place roughly every five years, ended on Thursday. Officials made a raft of
seemingly contradictory pledges, from modernizing the industrial complex,
while also expanding domestic demand, to stimulating growth and simultaneously
curbing debt risks. They indicated that they expect a bumpy ride for the
world's second biggest economy. But investors were unimpressed with the lack
of clear economic stimulus from China's Third Plenum. On to the markets now
and Asian shares are set to the end of the week on a sour note. A lackluster
Third Plenum outcome seemed to dampen the mood. The Hang Seng led losses, with
tech stocks weighing on all bourses yet again as China-US trade tensions
remain in play. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan had
its worst week in three months, losing almost 3% over the week. Cybersecurity
firm CrowdStrike suffered a major outage on Friday, impacting businesses
globally. Airlines and airports around the world are facing varying states of
disruption, including Mumbai and Hong Kong. Oil and gas trading desks in
London and Singapore are struggling to execute trades, according to industry
sources. Paytm posted its biggest quarterly loss since going public in 2021.
However, it still expects profitability and revenue to start improving from
the second quarter due to better cost management - this sent its shares
higher. The digital payments firm was hit by the wind down of its payments
banking unit earlier this year. Infosys traded over a two-year high on Friday.
India's second largest IT services firm topped quarterly estimates boosted by
a recovery in demand. Coming up next week, India's Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman will table the government's first budget of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's third term on Tuesday. Steps to boost jobs and incomes are expected to
be announced as growth in the economy remains uneven, with food prices
continuing to surge. And a number of Japanese companies are reporting next
week with Thursday the busiest day for results. The highlight perhaps will be
Nissan that day. It has full-year 2024 and Q1 2025 results out. The car maker
itself predicted that its operating profits for 2024 would be JPY600 billion
or $3.8 billion, a 5.5% increase on 2023. And that's it from your Asia Markets
Briefing