Collective Toil, U.S. Job Signal, Australia Frayed Ties: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help take you through to the weekend:

• China’s economic recovery is vulnerable to losing momentum as key trading partners from Japan to the U.S. struggle with resurgences of the deadly coronavirus
• The number of Americans filing for unemployment barely declined last week, signaling a slowing rebound. Meantime, the White House is telling Congress that President Donald Trump could reject a new coronavirus aid bill if it doesn’t include a payroll tax cut
• Australia and China are poles apart, despite their multi-billion dollar trade relationship, write Jason Scott and James Mayger
• The international race for protection from the coronavirus escalated to a new level with allegations that vaccine development is a target of Russian cyber-attacks
• President Xi Jinping pledged to provide a better business environment for foreign firms as the U.S. pushes to rewire supply chains and Chinese companies come under increased scrutiny abroad
• China is likely to maintain a third straight month of steady fixings for its Loan Prime Rate on July 20, though it has room to fall further to support the economy, according to Bloomberg Economics
• Indian banks boosted their holdings of rupee notes from companies to an all-time high recently, in a sign that policy measures aimed at boosting funding to companies during the pandemic are working
• The Reserve Bank of Australia’s two-month absence from the bond market has left analysts guessing when purchases will resume to cap an advance in yields
• U.S. central bankers still have some time to ponder how to best update their public guidance on the likely future path of interest rates and whether they need to deploy a yield-curve control strategy, New York Fed President John Williams said
• ECB policy makers didn’t agree on whether they expect to use the full amount of their 1.35 trillion-euro ($1.5 trillion) pandemic emergency purchase program when they met
• Wall Street economists are increasingly predicting the Bank of England will take further action to revive growth in coming months as the U.K. recovery proves lackluster
• Governments shouldn’t rescue firms that would otherwise go bust since great things can emerge from the ashes of failed companies. Does this economic theory apply, or is it too risky? Stephanie Flanders and Lucy Meakin discuss the theory in this Podcast

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