Asia markets mixed ahead of Bank of Korea decision, Hong Kong shares at two-month low

South Korea’s producer price index rose 1.6% year-on-year in April, down from the 3.3% seen in the previous month.

The government’s data showed that month on the month, the country’s producer price index fell 0.1% after seeing growth of 0.1% in March.

PPI is a measure of the change in prices that domestic producers receive for their goods and services.

The South Korean won weakened 0.11% on Thursday morning to 1,319.66 against the US dollar.

— Jihye Lee

South Korea’s producer price index rose 1.6% year-on-year in April, down from the 3.3% seen in the previous month.

The government’s data showed that month on the month, the country’s producer price index fell 0.1% after seeing growth of 0.1% in March.

PPI is a measure of the change in prices that domestic producers receive for their goods and services.

The South Korean won weakened 0.11% on Thursday morning to 1,319.66 against the US dollar.

— Jihye Lee

Fed minutes showed ‘uncertainty’ from participants on whether to raise prices for an 11th time at the June meeting.

There seemed to be two camps in the Fed now, according to the record. A group that included “some” members judged that progress in reducing inflation was “unacceptably slow” and would necessitate further increases. The second, backed by “several” FOMC members, saw slowing economic growth where “further policy tightening after this meeting may not be necessary.”

The protocol does not identify individual members, nor does it quantify “some” or “many” with specific numbers. But in Fed parlance, “some” is considered more than “several.”

In summary, the minutes indicated that the Fed would closely monitor incoming data to decide whether to raise rates again on June 14.

—Jeff Cox, John Melloy

Correction: In Fed parlance, “some” is considered more than “several.” An earlier version misunderstood the difference.

Addressing a three-pronged question facing U.S. central banks, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said it’s just too early to tell which choice is correct. Data in the coming weeks before the June 13-14 meeting will determine which is the right path, he said.

While Waller insisted the Fed will need to “maintain flexibility” on whether to raise, pause or skip June with a propensity to raise rates in July, he expressed doubt that the Fed has gone as far as it needs to in the fight against inflation.

“I don’t expect the data coming in over the next few months to make it clear that we’ve reached the terminal price,” Waller said in prepared remarks for a speech in Santa Barbara, California.

“And I don’t support stopping rate hikes unless we get clear evidence that inflation is coming down towards our 2% target. But whether we hike or skip at the June meeting will depend on how the data comes in over the next three weeks, ” he added.

-Jeff Cox

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reiterated that negotiators should reach one decision on the debt ceiling even as lawmakers struggle to agree on base spending.

“We will not go bankrupt,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday. “We’re going to fix this problem. I’m going to stay with it until we can get it done. But let’s be honest about this. We had to spend less than we spent last year. It’s not my fault that the Democrats didn’t can give up their spending.”

— Samantha Subin, Sarah Min

Negotiators for both sides of the debt ceiling negotiations were expected to meet again on Wednesday morning, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Stocks fell on Tuesday after negotiators for President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appeared to make no significant progress in talks that day.

It could take a week to write a deal and send it through Congress, the Reuters report noted, raising the stakes to reach an agreement in the coming days ahead of a June 1 deadline for a Treasury Department default.

—John Melloy