NAB Morning Call

Friday 3rd July 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABThe non-farm payrolls from the US overnight came in softer than expected, but NAB’s Rodrigo Catril strong enough for the Fed to dismiss concerns about the labour market and focus more of inflation. Phil asks him about the impact of this on bond markets, whilst equities have been hit by more AI concerns. With Anthropic reportedly teaming up with Samsung to develop their own bespoke chips it increasingly hard to know how to pick the winners. They also discuss the rise in the Yen. If Japanese authorities are looking at currency intervention could the thinner trading of a US holiday be the time to do that?

Wednesday 1st July 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABThe Yen fell further again overnight, hitting another 40-year low, but NAB’s Taylor Nugent says there’s no indication of when and if there will be any further currency intervention. US equities push higher and oil falls lower as Iran news falls off the front pages and investors focus more on the fundamentals. The RBA minutes yesterday reiterated that conditions were ‘now probably somewhat restrictive’, but was that enough to change expectations for a cut? Meanwhile house price data out this morning shows a drop in house prices for Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Plus, the latest European inflation data, China’s PMIs, confidence and jobs data from the US, with US manufacturing ISM out today. The main event could be that Sintra closing panel, with Kevin Warsh joining Lagarde, Bailey and Macklem, but given his opposition to forward guidance what can he talk about? The weather?

Tuesday 30th June 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABAs NAB’s Gavin Friend discusses with Phil, five cities are the focus for markets right now. In Doha, there are high hopes that high-level peace talks are resuming to stabilize maritime transit through the Strait of Hormuz. In Tokyo, markets are on the look out for a currency intervention after the Japanese yen languished to a staggering 40-year low past 161.96 against the greenback. In Sintra, the global monetary elite are gathering for the ECB forum, where AI risk is very much the agenda. In Washington a landmark 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling fiercely defends central bank independence by blocking the White House from firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Finally, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin has publicly admitted that targeted Ukrainian infrastructure strikes are severely impacting Russian life as local fuel supplies run short. Your whistle stop tour starts now!

Monday 29th June 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABNobody can accuse markets of being overly cynical about peace negotiations, says NAB’s Ken Crompton on this morning’s podcast. Oil fell on Friday despite skirmishes between Iran and Iran as Tehran seeks to reassert its control over the Strait. Most data on Friday were second tier stuff, with the surprise in the size of the US goods trade deficit the most surprising. Fed speakers over the weekend were sounding hawkish, and there will be a lot of interest in what Kevin Warsh says in Sintra this week. Yes, as Phil describes it, it’s the glitz and the glamour of the ECB Central Bankers Forum in Portugal, which is likely to provide a drip feed of news this week, alongside US jobs data, culminating in non-farm payrolls on Thursday.

Friday 26th June 2026Please note this communication is not a research report and has not been prepared by NAB Research analysts. Read the full disclaimer here.Is artificial intelligence on track to save mankind, or is the relentless hype hiding a massive financial crash and an ultimate existential threat? This weekend Phil tackles these profound questions with BCA Research's Chief Global Investment Strategist, Peter Berezin, following his controversial paper, “Boom Before Doom: The Terrifying Reason to Be Bullish on AI”. Drawing sharp parallels to the 2000 dotcom bust, Peter challenges the "winner-take-all" assumptions fueling today’s record data centre investments. He warns that computing power is rapidly becoming a commoditised, low-margin utility akin to historical railroads, canals, and airlines—destined to lose investors billions even as it reshapes society. But if the financial structural risks aren't enough, the episode pivots to a chilling medium-term outlook: if first-mover tech giants fail to generate sustainable profits, what happens if they intentionally give AI models full autonomy over real-world infrastructure and corporate operations simply to slash human labour costs?

Friday 26th June 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABCrude oil prices are marching back up after a Singaporean tanker was fired upon in the Strait of Hormuz. NAB’s Ray Attrill joins Phil to talk through the market response to that and to the sharp move up in Micron stock after the chip maker provided stellar forward guidance. Meanwhile, core U.S. PCE inflation printed exactly as expected at 0.3% monthly, nudging the annual rate up to 3.4% and cementing a restrictive Fed baseline. Closer to home, they look at the Australian employment print for May, after a noisy April print, Ray says it confirms a resilient yet gradually cooling local labour market that aligns cleanly with NAB’s expectations that the RBA will continue their current holding pattern for the rest of the year.

Thursday 25th June 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABOil prices are tumbling, with Brent crude hitting a fresh low near $73 a barrel,, taking significant pressure off global inflation hedges and pushing 10 year Treasury yields down 9 basis points. Phil talks to NAB’s Sally Auld look at how this commodity slide is reshaping central bank expectations, highlighted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Squawk Box interview where he likened the current tech-driven productivity wave to Alan Greenspan’s 1997 "one tap on the brakes" template, suggesting the Fed may only need one more rate hike, together with his dislike of the Fed's dot plot altogether. Closer to home, attention wraps firmly around yesterday’s Australian CPI print, which cooled on the headline thanks to falling pump prices; however, Sally flags that a peek under the hood reveals a stickier story, with trimmed-mean inflation tracking at 3.6% as local homebuilders and restaurants pass mounting material and input costs on to consumers. Aussie employment data will be watched keenly to see whether last month’s rise in the unemployment rate was a one-off, but isn’t expected to change the RBA’s outlook for interest rates. On that, ‘they’re done’ says Sally.

Wednesday 24th June 2026NAB Markets Research Disclaimer Financial Services Guide | Information on our services - NABThere have been big global move down in equities yesterday and that continued overnight. NAB’s Taylor Nugent joins Phil to discuss this risk-off mood. There’s no clear trigger except shares rose quickly last week. The Iran situation certainly wasn’t responsible after another day with more ships leaving the Strait and oil prices continuing to fall. But why has the Aussie dollar taken such a big hit? They also discuss yesterday’s PMIs and look ahead to today’s Australian inflation numbers.