China has committed to speeding up economic recovery. Threads attracted 30 million users in a day. Asian stock markets are expected to follow suit with the US and fall. Here is the information you need to know today.
Key Stages
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has committed to “taking the time” to implement a range of targeted policies to bolster the economy’s recovery from the pandemic. Li said at a seminar with researchers that China is at a key stage of economic recovery and industrial upgrading. He said that a series of targeted and comprehensive coordination measures must be implemented quickly to stabilize growth and employment and prevent risks. He did not elaborate on these measures. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with Li in Beijing today, her first formal contact during her two-day visit to the Chinese capital.
Mass Appeal
More than 30 million users have registered for Meta’s new app Threads, a software that directly competes with Twitter and is the most serious threat to Elon Musk’s embattled social media site. On Threads, people can post texts and links, reply or retweet others’ messages. Sound familiar? Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the similarities between Twitter and Musk’s in his first tweet, which featured two entirely identical Spider-Man faces off. Despite the surge in registrations, Threads has remained stable, with only occasional reports of temporary outages, including some of Zuckerberg’s own posts not showing up for some users. Here’s a comparison of Threads features with Instagram and Twitter.
Historic Lows?
Mr. Yen, the “celebrity bank interventionalist” of Japan, Takashi Sakamaki, said that because of the widening differences between Japan’s monetary policy and that of the US, the yen may fall below the thirty-year-low set last year. Sakamaki, who served as Japan’s Deputy Finance Minister from 1997 to 1999, is renowned for his ability to influence the yen exchange rate. He said that due to the Bank of Japan’s insistence on ultra-loose policies and the US Federal Reserve’s move to raise rates to counter inflation, the yen may depreciate by more than 10% from its current level. On Friday in Tokyo, the yen’s rate against the US dollar was around 144.
Unexpected Employment
Strong US private hiring data roiled Wall Street, pushing stock markets lower and driving bond yields sharply higher. Contracts in Japan and Australia suggest a drop of more than 1% at open, while contracts in Hong Kong suggest a modest decline. Investors will be looking for signs of improved trade relations between the two superpowers when Yellen and Li meet in Beijing, while traders will be closely watching Friday’s US non-farm payroll and unemployment report to see if it adds to or relieves pressure on the Fed to raise rates.
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