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Fed's Happy Outlook, China Balanced, Top Central Banks: Eco Day

Fed's Happy Outlook, China Balanced, Top Central Banks: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Thursday, Asia. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

  • The U.S. economy expanded at a modest pace with job gains slowing somewhat and inflation remaining stable or slightly weaker, a Fed survey showed. In Donald Trump vs. Jay Powell, new battle lines are being drawn. Yet Trump needs help from his favorite punching bag if he truly wants to take action to weaken the dollar
  • The imbalances that lie behind trade tensions are now concentrated in rich countries, and tariffs aren’t doing much to fix them, the IMF said, adding China is now close to balanced trade. Never mind the data -- China’s economy is humming, according to a major gas company
  • The Fed and other leading central banks are declaring the peak in global rates has been reached and are readying to start the march down. Indeed, this map shows the only way really is down
  • Indonesia is poised to cut interest rates for the first time in two years as the prospect of the U.S. unwinding some of its policy tightening bolsters the case for an aggressive easing cycle
  • With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s coalition on track to win a clear majority, attention is likely to turn swiftly back to his policy agenda. And Trump may push trade up Abe’s priority list
  • Maeva Cousin explores three economic shocks threatening Europe and troubling ECB chief Mario Draghi
  • The Dutch government is campaigning for former finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem to be the next IMF chief. OECD chief Angel Gurria reckons all names being floated for the fund are fully qualified
  • BOE policy makers may be losing faith in their own call for higher rates. The body that produces and regulates British national statistics should be divided into separate entities, lawmakers urged
  • More Americans are living mortgage free, an analysis shows. Carl Riccadonna notes that the decline in mortgage rates is having limited pass through in terms of reinvigorating demand for new housing
  • A clash over digital taxation overshadowed the start of a G-7 finance chiefs meeting as France refused to flinch on its levy that would hit tech giants from Facebook Inc. to Alphabet Inc.’s Google

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Jeffrey Black

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