Asian equities start cautions following the weak handover from Wall Street, where the major indices caught their streak of record closes after disappointing U.S. retail sales data. In New Zealand, the RBNZ kept the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 0.25% against market expectations for a 25bps hike due to the imposition of level 4 restrictions on activity across the country.
On the China front, local media reported that Chinese economic leadership stressed the need to prevent major financial risks, stabilise economic recovery, defuse systemic risks, and ensure overall economic and financial stability. With the growing tensions in Afghanistan, the Chinese media also reports that China will be keen to restore order in Afghanistan and promote reconstruction. Still, it has no obligation to help the U.S. get out of the “total disaster”. For the session ahead, all eyes leading to bond tapering chatter at FOMC minutes today. However, US nominal yields fail to sell as hard as the recent U.S. data has seen negative surprises.
