New Fed Approach, China Economy Accelerates, Slow India: 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.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell unveiled a new approach to setting monetary policy, letting inflation and employment run higher in a shift that will likely keep interest rates low for years to come. The comments sent gold on a roller-coaster ride and the Treasury yield curve steepened to the widest in two months
• China’s economy picked up speed in August on a combination of a strong industrial sector and stock market, better business confidence and home and car sales
• Business activity in India picked up slightly in July as a gradual improvement in services and exports showed the economy possibly moved past its worst-showing in the previous quarter
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should be able to serve out the remainder of his term as party leader ending about a year from now, his right-hand man said, after recent hospital visits raised questions about the premier’s health
• Applications for state U.S. unemployment benefits decreased last week following an unexpected jump, indicating the labor market’s gradual recovery is back on track as Covid-19 infections ease
• To gauge how economic factors may shape U.S. voting decisions in crucial swing states, Bloomberg Economics is using high-frequency data to track conditions
• Sweden’s government is embarking on an historic spending spree as it acknowledges there’s now less scope to lean on the central bank
• Canada’s economy suffered its worst contraction on record in the second quarter, official data is set to show on Friday, but the country appears to have rebounded strongly since the height of the pandemic
• The current surge in the amount of money sloshing around in the euro zone is far from being a signal that the ECB should guard against inflation, according to economist Nick Kounis at ABN Amro NV
• China’s latest volley of missile launches into the world’s most hotly contested body of water served as a warning to two key U.S. targets: aircraft carriers and regional bases

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