US DEBT DRAMA CRASHES JAPAN'S G7 PARTY (0656 GMT)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is highlighting three core priorities at the start of the G7 finance ministers' three-day meeting in Niigata, Japan today: reining in global inflation, bolstering long-term economic resilience, and redoubling a commitment to Ukraine. But almost everyone also wants to hear from her that the United States can sort out its own debt ceiling conundrum and avoid a potentially disastrous default. The Japanese setting is particularly appropriate, with the host nation being the world's biggest holder of U.S. debt. The bipartisan standoff already delayed the start of Yellen's trip so that she could personally ring up U.S. business executives and appear on major TV shows to warn of the dangers of not lifting the $31.4 trillion borrowing cap by the "X" date, ostensibly on June 1. With time very tight, President Joe Biden has signalled the chance of cancelling his trip to the Japanese city of Hiroshima for the following weekend's G7 summit if the issue is not resolved.
Debt ceiling uncertainty continues to cast a pall over markets, with most Asian equity benchmarks weak again on Thursday.
The United States isn't the only concern either. Chinese inflation data showed consumer prices almost flat-lining in April, while factory gate deflation deepened. It adds to worries about flaccid domestic demand, which had already been exacerbated by a shock decline in imports in data earlier in the week, dashing hopes that China's COVID-19 reopening could invigorate global growth. At least investors could take some comfort that the U.S. Federal Reserve is almost certainly through with interest rate hikes after continued easing of consumer inflation in the latest reading overnight. The next test of that hypothesis is producer price data later in the day. Ten-year Treasury yields continued to tick lower in Tokyo, putting the U.S. dollar under pressure against the yen. The Bank of Japan continued to send the same mixed signals, with minutes of last month's meeting showing policymakers agreeing that progress is being made toward its 2% inflation target, but also that stimulus needs to stay in place amid all the global macroeconomic uncertainty. The Bank of England, of course, takes the spotlight in European hours, with expectations for a 12th consecutive rate hike buoying sterling to a one-year peak.
Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:
G7 finance ministers meeting running May 11-13 BOE policy announcement at 1100 GMT US PPI at 1230 GMT
(Kevin Buckland)
*****
EUROPEAN FUTURES RISE DESPITE BIDEN RECESSION WARNING (0647 GMT)
European futures are ticking up, as traders await the Bank of England's policy rate decision due later today while also digesting U.S. President Joe Biden's latest warning of recession if the country's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling is not raised soon. Futures on the STOXX 50 are 0.2% higher. Asian stocks eased on growing deflationary pressures in China and a mixed bag of Japanese earning. The standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling has overshadowed a meeting of Group of Seven (G7) finance leaders starting on Thursday. Meanwhile, markets are still digesting data on Wednesday that showed the slowest rise in annual U.S. consumer inflation in two years.
On the earnings side, Dutch bank ING Groep reported better than expected first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by rising interest rates and modest risk costs. German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp raised guidance for free cash flow on Thursday.
Traders expect BoE to raise borrowing costs for the 12th meeting in a row on Thursday.
(Lucy Raitano)
*****
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Up against the limit ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
