• Italian Trade Balance Non-EU (Apr): The Italian trade balance for non-EU countries was EUR 1.22 billion in April, down from EUR 8.46 billion in the same month last year.
• HKD Exports (MoM) (Apr): Exports from Hong Kong fell by 13.0% in April from March, while imports fell by 11.9%.
• HKD Trade Balance: The Hong Kong trade balance was a deficit of HKD 36.6 billion in April, compared to a deficit of HKD 25.7 billion in March.
• BRL BCB Focus Market Readout: The BCB Focus Market Readout showed that market participants were expecting the Brazilian central bank to raise interest rates by 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting.
• USD Dallas Fed PCE (Apr): The Dallas Fed PCE index rose by 0.4% in April, below expectations of 0.5%.
• BRL CAGED Net Payroll Jobs (Apr): The number of net payroll jobs in Brazil fell by 195,170 in April, below expectations of a gain of 100,000 jobs.
• NZD Building Consents (MoM) (Apr): Building consents in New Zealand fell by 1.6% in April from March, below expectations of a gain of 0.5%.
• JPY Jobs/applications ratio (Apr): The jobs/applications ratio in Japan was 1.32 in April, unchanged from March.
• JPY Unemployment Rate (Apr): The unemployment rate in Japan fell to 2.5% in April, from 2.8% in March.
• AUD Building Approvals (MoM) (Apr): Building approvals in Australia rose by 2.0% in April from March, above expectations of a gain of 0.5%.
• AUD Private House Approvals (Apr): Private house approvals in Australia rose by 11.3% in April from March, above expectations of a gain of 0.5%.
• JPY 2-Year JGB Auction: The yield on the 2-year Japanese government bond fell to -0.042% at the auction today, from -0.045% at the previous auction.

Overall Outlook

Overall, the fundamental news today was mixed. Some of the news, such as the weak Italian trade balance and the fall in Brazilian payroll jobs, was negative for the global economy. However, other news, such as the strong US jobs market and the fall in Japanese unemployment, was positive for the global economy.

Overall, I expect the US dollar to remain strong against the major currencies in the near future. However, I expect the Japanese yen to continue to be weak against the US dollar.