Fed Blames Trade War, U.S. Jobs, Chinese Stay Home: Eco Day

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

• Trade-policy uncertainty is holding back global economic growth and may extend into 2020, according to a Fed research note that puts some hard numbers on an argument the bank has made for months
• U.S. jobs data due Friday may be inflated by Census Bureau hiring for the 2020 count. Carl Riccadonna echoes the potential for misleadingly robust results
• From quiet beaches in Bali to empty rooms in Hanoi’s hotels, pangs from China’s economic malaise and weakening yuan are being felt across Southeast Asia’s vacation belt
• Mario Draghi’s bid to reactivate bond purchases in a final salvo of stimulus is being threatened by the biggest pushback on policy ever seen during his eight-year reign. David Powell reckons the ECB hawks’ campaign against QE is likely to be futile
• Meantime, Riksbank has a history of having its plans to raise interest rates dashed by bigger powers and it looks like it’s about to repeat itself
• The Bank of Canada held firm to its narrative that it won’t be in any rush to cut interest rates unless it sees clear signs of economic deterioration at home
• Hong Kong is seeing an increase in capital outflows in response to ongoing demonstrations
• Britain’s parliamentarians voted in favor of forcing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to delay Brexit by three months to Jan. 31 if he can’t get a deal agreed. Would a delay take a no-deal Brexit off the table? Far from it, says Jamie Rush as he looks at the potential economic consequences
• The Swiss National Bank’s policy of negative rates remains essential and it’s not possible to predict how long such an expansive stance will be necessary, according to President Thomas Jordan

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, Chris Bourke

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