US-JAPAN: Econ Min To Meet w/Treasury Sec & USTR 17 Apr For Tariff Talks -NHK
Japan's NHK reporting a date for Minister for Economic Revitalisation Ryosei Akazawa's visit to Washington, D.C., for trade talks with US officials (see 'JAPAN: Econ Min To Visit US For Talks w/Bessent As Soon As Next Week-NHK', 1018BST 10 Apr). According to NHK's sources, Ryosei will hold talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Thursday 17 April.
- Following a Cabinet meeting earlier today, Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said that he also intends to hold "a forum for discussion" with Bessent later this month. The US Treasury Sec has highlighted exchange rate practice as one of his key areas of focus, and while Akazawa - a close ally of PM Shigeru Ishiba - has been designated as the main trade negotiator on behalf of the Japanese gov't, it is Kato that holds the brief for foreign exchange.
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EURIBOR OPTIONS: Put fly buyer
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BUNDS: /SWAPS: Modest Bid On Green's Reaffirming Fiscal Position Fades
A modest bid in German bonds on the back of Habeck reaffirming the known stance of the Greens when it comes to debt brake reform.
- While the Greens continue to voice their well-documented concerns surrounding defence spending, the door to fiscal negotiations and a deal in the immediate term seems to remain open.
- That explains the limited market reaction in German paper, with the major futures contracts already back from their knee-jerk highs.
- Long end ASWS vs. 3-month Euribor similarly muted, widening by ~0.5bp before fading.
EUROZONE DATA: ECB Wage Tracker Due At 1100GMT, No Surprises Expected
The ECB’s forward-looking wage tracker is due at 1100GMT. The tracker is seen by the Governing Council ahead of each ECB meeting, but is only released publicly the Wednesday after the decision. The focus should be on negotiated wage growth excluding one-off payments, with the other series including lump sums exhibiting more volatility (see charts).
- In the January update, Q4 2025 negotiated wage growth excluding one-off payments tracked at 2.97%, a touch above the 2.92% tracking from the December 2024 vintage.
- Changes in negotiated wage growth should be expected to filter into overall compensation per employee growth. The ECB projected Q4 2025 compensation per employee growth at 2.8% Y/Y in the March macroeconomic projections.
- At the March press conference, President Lagarde noted that “recent wage negotiations point to a continued moderation in labour cost pressures”.
- As such, we expect the tracker to be broadly consistent with the ECB’s latest compensation per employee forecast.
- Note: The horizon of the tracker may stretch to Q1 2026 in the March update, but this has not been confirmed by the ECB.
- The data can be found here. In January, there was no accompanying press release to the raw data.
