Canadians observed Canada Day yesterday, and U.S. banks and markets will be shut today to commemorate the 247th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence signing. Only a few economic indicators have been reported around the world. On the central bank watching front, there’s been one surprise in Australia and a continuing veiled threat from Japan. As they did in April but not in May or June, Reserve Bank of Australia officials paused the sequence of interest rate hikes that began from a base of 0.10% in May 2022. Three percentage points of tightening in 2022 were augmented by four 25-basis point hikes during the ... (full story)