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Chinese Spending, Aussie Property Bet, U.S. Slump Over? Eco Day

Chinese Spending, Aussie Property Bet, U.S. Slump Over? Eco Day

Welcome to Thursday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

  • Chinese consumers are finally starting to spend again after the pandemic-induced slump, but the recovery is unbalanced and overly reliant on luxury goods, with poorer Chinese still cautious
  • Australian pension funds are embarking on build-to-rent property investments as a hunt for yield and lower taxes encourage them to look past the deteriorating rental market
  • The panel of elite economists who judge the dates of U.S. recessions is finding that declaring an end to the downturn is tougher than calling its start. A parade of Fed officials Wednesday stressed that more fiscal stimulus is critical to sustaining the economic recovery
  • Thai protesters plan to hit the streets again as lawmakers decide on a pathway to amend the constitution
  • Small businesses in India, already struggling amid the pandemic, are having to repay mounting debt after a loan holiday ended last month
  • Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said it won’t raise interest rates until it achieves 2% inflation for a few months and full employment. The Fed was alarmed mid-March when cash was pulled from prime money-market funds, one of the safest places to park funds
  • The Philippine government is trying to retrain hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers who are returning jobless from overseas
  • SNB President Thomas Jordan has taken his foot off the pedal after the most aggressive currency intervention in five years
  • Just one week after the Fed set the tone for the world by cementing in a low interest rate for the foreseeable future, Norway’s central bank might be about to emphatically differ
  • Counting on China as an anchor of strength has been a good tactic for traders of Asia’s emerging currencies. That link is losing traction as recovery paths from the coronavirus pandemic diverge

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