Dovish Powell, Australia Recession Risk, U.S. Jobs View: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Monday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the week.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech was dovish in the context of recent Fedspeak, Bloomberg Economics says. Ex-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said Powell’s remarks amounted to a “serene” depiction of inflation that is misreading the risks
• Australia’s economy may have shrunk slightly in the three months through June, setting up the bad “optics” of a technical recession, according to Citigroup Inc. and AMP Capital Investors Ltd.
• A likely moderation in U.S. hiring in Friday’s employment report will give policy makers a measure of the health of the labor market
• Singapore outpaced most advanced economies to fully vaccinate 80% of its population against Covid, paving the way for it to forge ahead with reopening in an approach being closely watched elsewhere
• As Chinese President Xi Jinping seeks to revive the egalitarian spirit of the Maoist era under the slogan of “common prosperity,” he’s demanding financial sacrifices from wealthy private entrepreneurs
  • China also kicked off a two-month campaign to crack down on commercial platforms and social media accounts that post finance-related information that’s deemed harmful to its economy
• Somewhere in the world’s busiest port of Shanghai, a container of fertilizer sits waiting for a ride to the U.S. It’s been on the dock for months, trapped by typhoons and Covid outbreaks. Meantime, the number of ships waiting to enter the biggest U.S. gateway for trade with Asia reached the highest since the pandemic began
• The delta variant has muted the progress of the U.S. recovery from the pandemic, with consumers putting off some leisure spending and businesses delaying a return to normal operations. Over the next decade, though, the Biden administration revised its budget projections to offer a more optimistic outlook for deficits.
• The U.K. is running out of time to find truck drivers before isolated incidents at supermarkets and fast-food chains erupt into a crisis that leaves businesses crippled by delivery delays and shortages
• The Philippine government approved plans for a casino in the tourist island of Boracay to boost funds for its pandemic measures
• Jackson Hole sharpened the contrast between a Fed telegraphing an end to stimulus and a dovish ECB. For the euro, that means its status as a preferred funding currency just got a boost

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