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China repeats that Hong Kong is part of its internal affairs, no other country has the right to intervene
Comments by the Chinese foreign ministry – Says that China opposes US actions, calls it 'pure nonsense' – Urges US to stop frivolous political manoeuvres See here for global coronavirus case data
Switzerland May KOF leading indicator index 53.2 vs 70.0 expected
Latest data released by KOF Swiss Economic Institute – 29 May 2020 – Prior 63.5; revised to 59.7 The data here measures the future trends of overall economic activity in the Swiss economy.
France Q1 final GDP -5.3% vs -5.8% q/q prelim
Latest data released by INSEE – 29 May 2020 – Q1 final GDP -5.0% vs -5.4% y/y prelim The preliminary report can be found . Despite the better revision to initial estimates, the figures are still awful and will be surpassed by the slump in economic activity in Q2.
France April consumer spending -20.2% vs -14.7% m/m expected
Latest data released by INSEE – 29 May 2020 – -17.9%; revised to -16.9% – Consumer spending -34.1% vs -32.2% y/y expected – Prior -18.1%; revised to -17.0% See here for global coronavirus case data
France May preliminary CPI +0.2% vs +0.3% y/y expected
Latest data released by INSEE – 29 May 2020 – +0.3% – HICP +0.2% vs +0.3% y/y expected – Prior +0.4% See here for global coronavirus case data Much like the rest of the region, inflation pressures are continuing to soften with the headline reading slumping to its weakest level since August 2016 now.
Trouble brewing down under?
AUD under pressure, really? The medium term outlook for the AUD is likely to weaken if the US-China trade dispute grows. This is because Australia is the most China dependent major developed economy and tensions have been mounting between the two countries.
UK environment minister: We can't keep people on furlough scheme indefinitely
Comments by UK environment minister, George Eustice The UK remains in a bit of mess right now with local media and the public heavily focused on the debate of whether or not Dominic Cummings broke lockdown restrictions.
Nikkei 225 closes lower by 0.18% at 21,877.89
Japanese stocks recover to end the day closer to flat levels Despite the slightly lower finish, it was still a solid week for the Nikkei as it gained by a little over 7% in trading this week.
Germany April retail sales -5.3% vs -12.0% m/m expected
Latest data released by Destatis – 29 May 2020 – -5.6%; revised to -4.0% – Retail sales -6.5% vs -14.0% y/y expected – Prior -2.8%; revised to -1.2% See here for global coronavirus case data