Melissa Cheok

Why are bond yield curves getting more market attention lately? The shape of the yield curve is a key metric that markets watch, as it can have an impact on a range of asset prices and has historically been a signal of the economic outlook. 1/7

As commodity currencies rise today amid gains in US stock futures, the Australian dollar is leading the way. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

While Indonesian markets were closed for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, stocks and bonds slipped across the region in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increase. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

BUT buying yen would be costly and eat into Japan’s foreign reserves, which stand at ~$1.4 trillion. There's also no guarantee it would work given those reserves are dwarfed by the size of the foreign exchange market, which has daily trading volume in excess of $6.6 trillion 💹

So far, the Bank of Japan has limited itself to verbal warnings but it could choose to prop up the currency by buying yen -- the last time that happened was during the Asian financial crisis of 1998, when the currency reached around 146 to the dollar bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The Aussie has dropped about 2.7% against the dollar in the past two weeks. Traders may pivot back toward the Aussie as more clarity comes on when the Reserve Bank of Australia will also start to raise rates. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Russia's reserves peaked at a record $643.2 billion on Feb. 18 and then declined sharply, before stabilizing in recent weeks. Sanctions have cut off access to half of reserves, according to the central bank

Latest: The Monetary Authority of Singapore, which manages its currency exchange rate as its main policy tool, moved to tighten policy on Thursday. The decision will allow the local dollar to appreciate, buffering the impact of imported inflation bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Tightening by the Monetary Authority of Singapore typically involves steepening the slope of an undisclosed range within which the currency can appreciate, but can also include widening or re-centering that so-called band

Singapore’s dollar looks set to strengthen as the central bank is likely to turn more hawkish at its policy review this week. Pressure for tighter monetary policy is building as the Ukraine war and China's Covid situation fans global inflation pressures 👇bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Sri Lanka will expedite talks with the IMF and wants to avoid a hard default, according to its finance ministry. The economic crisis has evolved into a political stalemate, which could potentially complicate efforts to negotiate aid

European stocks open lower trib.al/VTrWwB7

Yen slides to lowest against dollar since August 2015 trib.al/E4o8t7P

Jokowi appeared to dismiss a plan floated by a senior cabinet official to extend his time in office as thousands of university students are set to protest in Jakarta bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

However, after the Russian ruble's collapse following the invasion, it has surged all the way back to where it was before Putin invaded Ukraine. It's showing that sanctions are largely toothless if the world keeps guzzling Russian oil and natural gas. 5/5 bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

As Russia seeks to avoid its first external default in nearly a century, sanctions have already led to the seizure of an estimated 2/3s of Russia’s foreign reserves, leaving questions on how long it can pull from its local coffers to pay its debts. 4/5 bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has wreaked havoc on agricultural supply chains in the crucial Black Sea breadbasket region. Elsewhere, high energy and fertilizer prices are raising food-production costs, which is feeding through to bigger grocery bills. 1/5 bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Latest: Sri Lanka’s inflation will likely surge to around 20% in the second and third quarters of this year 📈 The country’s crippling inflation has sent the cost of basic goods skyrocketing, and its people are bearing the brunt of it 💸bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Sri Lanka just named Ali Sabry the new finance minister amid a Cabinet reshuffle. Sabry is among the key decision makers as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa prepares for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund. 7/7 bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

What's going on in Sri Lanka 🇱🇰? An economic crisis. A severe shortage of foreign currency has left the country unable to pay for essential imported goods such as food and fuel. Foreign exchange reserves stood at just $2.31 billion at end-Feb. 1/7 bloom.bg/3r1BaTE

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says she won’t run for a second term, ending a momentous period that saw the financial hub become more isolated globally trib.al/jA04w9c