Futures Firmer Overnight, Labour Market Data Slightly Mixed

In post-Tokyo trade, JGB futures are stronger, closing +8 compared to settlement levels, after a subdued start to a busy week of central bank policy meetings and key data releases.

• June's labour market data printed slightly mixed, with the Jobless Rate undershooting expectations at 2.5% (2.6% est) while the Job-To-Applicant Ratio showed 1.23 versus 1.24 expected.
• This week will see policy decisions from the BoJ, BoE and Fed alongside top-tier economic releases including the US Non-Farm Payrolls report and Employment Cost Index, Euro Area CPI and GDP, Australian CPI and China PMI. The US earnings season is also in full swing with Amazon, Apple, Meta and Microsoft reporting earnings this week.
• (AFR) Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle wrote "We expect the FOMC to revise its statement to say that the unemployment rate has ‘risen slightly but remains low’, that there has been ‘further progress’ (dropping ‘modest’) toward the 2 per cent inflation goal, that the risks to the two sides of the mandate ‘are in’ (not ‘have moved toward’) better balance, and—most importantly—that it now needs only ‘somewhat’ greater confidence in the inflation outlook in order to start lowering interest rates,”
• Tomorrow, the local calendar will see the BoJ Policy Meeting.