Inflation data and FOMC Minutes

Friday’s steep declines in Wall Street driven by weak employment report and a war of words between U.S. and China seem to have been shrugged off in Asia trade. President Trump’s tweets are becoming a little confusing to investors.

After threatening to impose tariffs on additional $100 bln of Chinese exports, Trump tweeted that he will always be friends with President Xi and China will take down its barriers because it is the right thing to do. The trade drama will continue to create noise in the coming weeks, but it will be interesting to hear from the Chinese President at the Boao Forum, where as expected show his country’s readiness to retaliate, while indicating a willingness to negotiate.

Oil traders will continue eyeing situation in Syria, after the Pentagon denied conducting air strikes on an airport in Homs. The missile strikes came a couple of hours after

U.S. Consumer Price Index is expected to increase by 0.1% YoY, to 2.3%. Meanwhile, the core reading is anticipated to hit back the Fed’s target of 2%, after falling short for the past 11 months.

The inflation reading along with the FOMC minutes release on Wednesday will probably lead to a repricing of interest rates expectations given any surprise. An upside surprise will likely push U.S. 10-year Treasury yields bonds towards 2.9%, having fallen 17 basis points from its February’s peak of 2.96%.