If any doubts remained about whether the Federal Reserve will be lowering its key interest rate later this month, the budget loggerheads a few blocks away in the nation’s capital may have cemented the move.

Particularly if the impasse stretches out past a few days, Chair Jerome Powell and his fellow central bankers likely will err on the side of caution, which in this case would be a bias towards easing, Wall Street experts say. 

“The US government shutdown and associated data delays nudge what we judged was already a firmly odds-on Fed rate cut in October further odds-on,” Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI, said in a client note. (CNBC – Continue Reading) 

Australia's surplus on goods trade shrank sharply in August as shipments of gold plunged after a run of strong months, data showed on Thursday, while imports were up across the board.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the surplus on goods fell to A$1.8 billion ($1.19 billion) in August, from a revised A$6.6 billion in July. That was far below market forecasts for a A$6.2 billion surplus. 

Exports dived climbed 7.8%, led by a 47% drop in non-monetary gold. Imports rose 3.2%, with gains across consumer goods, aircraft, and telecom equipment. (RTRS – Continue Reading) 

Australia’s household spending came in weaker than expected in August, adding to the case for the Reserve Bank to resume policy easing as soon as next month.

Sales advanced 0.1% from the prior month, when they climbed a downwardly revised 0.4%, and missed expectations for a 0.3% gain, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed on Thursday. From a year earlier, spending climbed 5%, compared with economists’ consensus for a 5.2% increase. (BBG – Continue Reading)