RBA Releases Meeting Minutes

After expanding at a pace of 0.50% in the first quarter this year, Japan's economic growth stalled in the following three months. Data from Japan's cabinet ministry released on Monday showed that GDP was unchanged in Q2 2016, missing expectations of a 0.20% increase. On a year over year basis, Japan's GDP expanded at a pace of 0.20%, missing forecasts of 0.70% and was lower than the first quarter's annual growth rate of 1.90%. Private consumption ticked higher, rising 0.20% on the quarter and matched the forecasts but business spending fell 0.40% during the same period missing forecasts of a 0.20% increase.

Business activity in New York declined in August, according to data from the NY Fed's Empire State Manufacturing survey. The headline general business conditions index fell five points to -4.20 in August. New orders index remained near zero indicating that orders were little changed, while the shipments index climbed eight points to 9.0. Manufacturing firms in the New York area reported a weaker pace of business activity in August with nearly 30 percent of the survey participants indicating that business conditions had worsened. Analysts were expecting to see an increase in the index to 2.1 following a decline to 0.6 in July.