Thursday 18th August 2022

Inflation clearly isn’t easing yet. The UK hit 10.1 percent in numbers released yesterday. NAB’s David de Garis says the sticker-shock of double-digit inflation set the cautious mood off early. But if hiking by central banks is designed to slow consumption it is taking its time about it. US retail sales were up 10.3 percent (YoY) in July. Can an aggressive path of hikes slow demand enough to stop inflation in its tracks? Will the RBNZ be the first to demonstrate success? And will the RBA need to pick up the pace, with some worrying signs in the wages data yesterday, even though the headline number seemed quite tame.