Weekly economic and financial commentary

Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Summary

United States: Expansion Not Yet Heading to the Gallows

An increase in real retail sales by our estimates and a rebound in industrial production in July offered evidence beyond recent jobs data that the U.S. economy is not yet in a recession. That said, with new orders in the manufacturing sector slowing sharply and housing activity continuing to tumble, data this week did little to change our view that a downturn in the coming quarters will be hard to avoid.
Next week: New Home Sales (Tue), Durable Goods (Wed), Personal Income & Spending (Fri)

International: Diverging Paths for Inflation in Canada and U.K.

Headline inflation in Canada may be showing signs of cooling down. Overall CPI decelerated to a 7.6% year-over-year pace in July, driven by falling gasoline and energy prices. While inflation in Canada may have peaked in July, price pressures in the U.K. have not yet abated. Headline inflation surprised to the upside, reaching 10.1% year-over-year. We expect U.K. inflation to remain elevated for longer, as another sizable increase in electricity prices is planned for October.
Next week: U.K. PMIs (Tue), Eurozone PMIs (Tue), South Africa CPI (Wed)

Interest Rate Watch: The Fed Still Has More Work to Do

We continue to look for the Fed to hike the federal funds rate another 75 bps at its September 20-21 FOMC meeting and to follow that up with a 50 bps hike in early November and a 25 bps hike in December. After that, we believe the Fed will take a break and see how the rate hikes it has implemented so far affect the broader economy.

Topic of the Week: China's Renewed Slowdown Prompts Surprise Rate Cut

The combination of COVID containment policies and a struggling property sector has led us to revise our annual GDP forecast consistently lower over the course of this year, and as of now, we believe China's economy will grow a little above 3%. We also believe risks are tilted toward even slower growth than we forecast, and July activity data released over the past few weeks reinforces that view.

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Wells Fargo Research Team

Wells Fargo

AUD/USD rises to 0.6950 as USD slips on Fed's Warsh

AUD/USD regains traction and extends the bounce toward 0.6950 in the Asian session on Friday. Fed Chair Warsh's comments reinforce the selling pressure on the US Dollar, allowing the pair to stretch higher. Warsh said that he remains committed to delivering price stability without giving away anything on future interest rate path.

USD/JPY falls in symc with USD, gives up 158.00 after Warsh's speech

USD/JPY has come under fresh selling pressure and gives up 158.00 in the Asian session on Friday amid the emergence of fresh US Dollar selling. Fed Chair Warsh's non-committal commentary on the future tightening path, weighs on the US Dollar and the pair.

Gold extends gains nearing $4,200 as US Dollar struggles

Gold heads north for the second consecutive day, trading near $4,180, with bulls aiming for the $4,230 area, the top of October’s trading range. Precious metals have been boosted by lower US Treasury yields and dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials this week, which have undermined speculative support for the Greenback.

Busy week for Ripple’s RLUSD: What changes for stablecoin holders?

Ripple’s RLUSD is gaining ground across institutional finance, with a major bank launching custody services, a new wallet integration making it easier for developers to build payments and agentic experiences on the network, and a brokerage platform planning to use the stablecoin for settlement.

Hot inflation, falling yields: A new test for global markets

Global markets are confronting a difficult combination: renewed inflation pressure, expensive capital and growing scrutiny of the investment supporting the AI boom. The most revealing development this week was the demand for government bonds even as US inflation accelerated. My assessment is that investors should treat this as a test of financing resilience.

Everyone's dumping Gold after hot US inflation. Here's why $4,100 could be a floor, not a cliff

Gold (XAU/USD) is recovering from a sharp sell-off triggered by hotter-than-expected United States (US) inflation data released on Wednesday. The precious metal briefly plunged toward $4,073 as investors increased their bets on further Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hikes before recovering as US Treasury yields and the US Dollar (USD) reversed their initial gains.