Macro

The dollar weakened on Friday, heading for its first weekly fall in more than a month against the euro and the yen, amid fading expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike and lingering concerns...

India's foreign exchange reserves fell by nearly $60 billion in the six weeks to October 9 to $726.027 billion, driven largely by the central bank's dollar sales to defend the rupee. The rupee is among Asia's worst-performing currencies this year, pressured by higher crude oil prices, rising US Treasury yields and foreign investor outflows. Foreign currency assets and gold reserves also posted significant declines in the reporting week.

In September, US wholesale prices rose sharply by 1.3%, fueled by a significant increase in gasoline costs, marking the biggest monthly gain since March 2022. The Producer Price Index saw a 6.3% year-over-year rise, indicating broader inflation pressures across goods and services. Learn more about the impact on the economy and Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.

Wholesale inflation rose more quickly than expected last month on a big jump in fuel costs, a sign that stubbornly rising prices remain an economic challenge for consumers and a political problem for Republicans in the midterm elections

US September CPI came in above expectations, lifting annual inflation to 3.7% and leaving core inflation at 2.6%. Traders repriced the Fed's rate path, with Kalshi showing the odds of a 25 basis point hike in October jumping from 21% to 46%. The two-year Treasury yield rose about 10 basis points to 4.89%, gold fell about 1.1% and the VIX advanced. Bitcoin ETF inflows dropped 88% and bitcoin slid toward $81,000.

The cost of insuring against US tech defaults has hit record levels in the latest sign of credit stress building in the AI trade, especially for data centres dependent on future revenue. ...

Australia's unemployment rate remained at 4.7% in September. Employment fell by 39,300 and the number of officially unemployed people rose by 8,900. The participation rate eased to 66.8% from 67%, leaving the September-quarter average at 4.63%, above the Reserve Bank's 4.5% forecast for the fourth quarter. Trend measures were steadier, with unemployment at 4.6%, participation at 66.9% and hours worked unchanged.

Unemployment lifted in September, before the Reserve Bank’s most recent rate hike, ABS figures show.