Trump Targets FX, Jobs May Sway Fed, Lagarde World View: Eco Day

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

• U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest accusation of currency manipulation by Europe and China has foreign-exchange analysts game-planning the administration’s next move
• This week’s U.S. jobs report could make the case for the Fed to hold off on an interest-rate cut -- or to take even more drastic action. Carl Riccadonna agrees the June results will be important for the economic outlook and near-term trajectory of monetary policy
• Governments hoping their nominee for ECB president will keep a steady hand on euro-zone monetary policy can probably take heart from Christine Lagarde’s public views. Meanwhile, her appointment to the helm of the ECB marks a poignant moment for the woman who fought for years to loosen the male grip on its leadership
• The U.S. trade deficit widened to a five-month high as imports surged the most since 2015, illustrating how Trump’s trade policies are weighing on the economy. The U.S. moved to impose additional duties on steel coming from Asia, expanding a crackdown on what the Trump administration views as unfair trading practices
• In a last ditch effort to avoid EU sanctions, Italy’s Finance Minister Giovanni Tria and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte sought to reassure Brussels that the government’s commitment to fiscal discipline will extend beyond this year into 2020
• China and Britain’s war of words over Hong King escalated Wednesday, with the two sides openly accusing each other of behaving inappropriately toward the former U.K. colony

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, Paul Jackson

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