Asian market implications: Despite Trump’s remarks and the American market profits, the prospect of higher rates and geopolitical tensions show a Testy Asian session on Monday 24 March.
Japan PMI -data weaken boj hike -prospects
The PMI numbers of the Japanese private sector on 24 March may closed the door to an H1 2025 Bank of Japan Rate increase. The Japanese Jibun Bank Services PMI tumbled from 53.7 in February to 49.5 in March, crucial under the neutral 50 Mark. The production sector closed faster, with the PMI falling from 49.0 to 48.3.
With services that contribute more than 70% to the GDP of Japan, a softer growth view can force the boj to slow down the speed increases. The Japanese yen weakened and sent the USD/JPY 0.40% to 149,878.
Annabel Fiddes, Associate Director of Economics at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:
“Strong inflation, in combination with concern about labor shortages, an aging population, subdued customer expenditure and increased uncertainty about the international trade environment filled the optimism around the prospects. In particular, general confidence with regard to future business activities has fallen since August 2020 at the end of the first quarter to the lowest that has fallen to the lowest.”