EarlyFX traded in a thinner liquidity environment than usual with NewZealand markets, usually the first to open in the world on a Monday,closed for a holiday. Thenews flow early was dominated by the OPEC+ decision to extend cuts, but also outlining a plan to begin trimming them back from October. Thedetails are in the post above.
The response from analysts (andtraders) was mixed, with some arguing the decision was bearish forthe oil price while others took the opposite, bullish, side. Priceaction was similar, with oil opening and trading a little lower thanits Friday close, before turning around and trading a little higherand then dribbling back to be little changed as I update. Thedata of most note today was from China, the second of the twomanufacturing PMIs.
On Friday we had a poor official, National Bureauof Statistics (NBS), manufacturing PMI while today’s fromCaixin/S&P Global was much better. The Caixin PMI has beenstronger than the official PMI in recent months. Of course, the twoare very different surveys, that from Caixin is less focused onstate-owned enterprises, with a greater representation of privatesector and export-oriented firms.
The result showed manufacturingactivity in May grew at the fastest pace in about two years. Strongproduction and new orders featured. Wehad mixed data from Japan, with the manufacturing PMI for Mayexpanding for the first time in a year (see bullets above).
FromAustralia we had a couple of developments, with minimum and awardwages a.
