Asia-Pacific markets may open mixed today after last week’s non-farm payrolls (NFP) report lifted the US Dollar higher into the weekend as rate traders priced in accelerated Fed tightening. The stronger Greenback pushed the risk-sensitive Australian Dollar over half a percent lower on Friday, although the currency pair managed to hold onto a narrow weekly gain. Major equity indexes across the region also finished higher on the week.
Chinese inflation data for July will likely provide today’s primary event risk for markets. Beijing has clamped down on rising prices through regulatory action over the past couple of months. Policy makers see high prices as a threat to the country’s economic stability. The consumer price index (CPI) is slated to cross the wires at 0.8% on a year-over-year basis, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists and analysts. That figure is 0.3% lower than in June.
