Articles
9 December 2019

ASEAN Morning Bytes

Strong US data limits case for Fed cut, weak China trade numbers highlights anxiety over phase one deal.

EM Space: Central bank meetings and tariff deadline to dictate trading direction

  • General Asia: With the data calendar stacked with central bank meetings (Fed, ECB, and BSP) and lots of activity data, it's going to be a pretty busy week for markets. Trade anxiety will continue to play a key role in shaping investor sentiment.
  • Thailand: The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Consumer Confidence Index fell to more than five-year low of 69.1 in November from 70.7 in October. The ninth consecutive fall foreshadows continued weak domestic demand going into 2020. We are sceptical the proposed hike in the daily minimum wage hike in 2020, the second hike in as many years will do any good to revive confidence.
  • Philippines: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Diokno indicated that inflation and GDP should fall within their respective targets for the year. His comments come a week ahead of the BSP’s last policy meeting of the year, where Diokno is expected to leave policy rates unchanged.
  • Indonesia: Finance minister Indrawati indicated that conditions remained right for further easing from Bank Indonesia (BI) with stable inflation while growth faced global headwinds. Meanwhile, BI's deputy governor Damayanti hinted at more policy easing ahead, noting that economy had entered an era of low inflation allowing for greater monetary policy accommodation and that BI had other monetary tools at its disposal.

What to look out for: Fed meeting and China inflation

  • Taiwan trade (9 December)
  • China money supply (9 December)
  • Philippine trade (10 December)
  • China inflation (10 December)
  • US inflation (11 December)
  • Fed meeting (11 December)
  • BSP meeting (12 December)
  • ECB meeting (12 December)
  • US PPI inflation (12 December)
  • Hong Kong industrial production 13 December)
  • US retail sales (13 December)

Disclaimer

"THINK Outside" is a collection of specially commissioned content from third-party sources, such as economic think-tanks and academic institutions, that ING deems reliable and from non-research departments within ING. ING Bank N.V. ("ING") uses these sources to expand the range of opinions you can find on the THINK website. Some of these sources are not the property of or managed by ING, and therefore ING cannot always guarantee the correctness, completeness, actuality and quality of such sources, nor the availability at any given time of the data and information provided, and ING cannot accept any liability in this respect, insofar as this is permissible pursuant to the applicable laws and regulations.

This publication does not necessarily reflect the ING house view. This publication has been prepared solely for information purposes without regard to any particular user's investment objectives, financial situation, or means. The information in the publication is not an investment recommendation and it is not investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Reasonable care has been taken to ensure that this publication is not untrue or misleading when published, but ING does not represent that it is accurate or complete. ING does not accept any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication. Unless otherwise stated, any views, forecasts, or estimates are solely those of the author(s), as of the date of the publication and are subject to change without notice.

The distribution of this publication may be restricted by law or regulation in different jurisdictions and persons into whose possession this publication comes should inform themselves about, and observe, such restrictions.

Copyright and database rights protection exists in this report and it may not be reproduced, distributed or published by any person for any purpose without the prior express consent of ING. All rights are reserved.

ING Bank N.V. is authorised by the Dutch Central Bank and supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB), the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). ING Bank N.V. is incorporated in the Netherlands (Trade Register no. 33031431 Amsterdam).