PHILIPPINES: Romualdez Resigns As House Speaker, Dy Takes Over
Sep-17 08:24
House Speaker Martin Romualdez, privately a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos, confirmed his resignation amid ongoing turmoil around alleged corruption in the procurement of flood control infrastructure. Romualdez's resignation paves the way for the election of Faustino 'Bojie' Dy III as his successor.
- Romualdez is the leader of the Lakas–Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas–CMD) party, which holds a plurality of seats (111/317) in the lower house and is a key member of the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas alliance led by President Marcos. The outgoing Speaker is also believed to have played an instrumental role in fuelling the feud between the Duterte and Marcos clans, which spilled over into wider national politics.
- His designated successor Faustino 'Bojie' Dy III was a Deputy Speaker under Romualdez and is an MP from the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) chaired by President Marcos himself. The vote was seen as a formality as Dy was the only nominee for the vacated Speaker position.
- This comes a week after Senate President Francis 'Chiz' Escudero was ousted and replaced by Minority Leader Tito Sotto, who proceeded at breakneck speed to secure required majority needed for a leadership transition. Sotto later revealed that he believed Escudero was taken by surprise.
- The Malacanang said that Romualdez's resignation will not shield him from a probe into irregularities in flood control projects. In his resignation speech, Romualdez said that his exit will allow the Independent Commission for Infrastructure to 'pursue its mandate freely and fully'.
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SWITZERLAND DATA: Weak Q2 Industrial Production Confirms GDP Commentary
Aug-18 08:23
Swiss industrial output declined in Q2, printing -2.46% Q/Q, the weakest consecutive print since Q1 2023 but that's coming from a very strong 3.63% in Q1.
- The print confirms the expected slowdown in Swiss manufacturing after the statistics office commented on last week's Q2 flash GDP (0.1% Q/Q) as "the negative performance in industry has been counterbalanced by gains in the services sector".
- The SNB is likely to remain focused on inflation developments in their near-term monetary policy decisions.
- Across sectors, pharmaceuticals stood out at -10.8% Q/Q but that comes after a record 18.2% in Q1 which was helped by US tariff front-loading. On an index level, encouragingly, the sector did see its second best quarter on record in Q2.
- Current tariff levels of 39% levied by the US on Swiss imports should weigh on industrial production in the country mid-term.
- SNB's Martin speaks in Zurich Thursday. Swiss Q2 labour market data is scheduled for tomorrow.
OPTIONS: Larger FX Option Pipeline
Aug-18 08:20
- EUR/USD: Aug19 $1.1620-25(E2.3bln), $1.1700(E1.3bln); Aug20 $1.1660-75(E1.2bln); Aug21 $1.1600(E1.3bln), $1.1700(E1.4bln), $1.1750(E1.9bln), $1.1800(E2.9bln)
- USD/JPY: Aug20 Y148.00-10($1.2bln); Aug21 Y145.95-00($1.2bln), Y146.70-80($1.7bln)
- AUD/USD: Aug21 $0.659-00(A$1.8bln)
AUD: Westpac Bullish AUD/USD, Bearish AUD/JPY
Aug-18 08:12
Westpac continue to look for upside in AUD/USD & downside in AUD/JPY multi-month.
- They write “AUD/USD remains very well anchored within short term ranges (0.6485-0.6565) and it probably stays that way for now. Core AUD/USD longs still make sense though. The price action may be dull and uninspired, but it doesn’t support abandoning our core view. The macro backdrop remains decidedly USD negative. We still look for another incremental new high, around 0.6650 on a 1-3 month horizon, but given AUD’s unexceptional progress, it more likely happens on the latter side”.
- For AUD/JPY Westpac suggest that “pathways to a more sustained bearish reset continue to build. Trade uncertainty has subsided in Japan with a provisional tariff deal, Q2 GDP was notably stronger than expected and the Q1 contraction was revised away. We continue to target 94.00 on a 1-3 month horizon and do not see the cross sustainably trading above 97.00”.
