Daily Alert: No deal on the Strait of Hormuz, direct talks with US ruled out

  • Bloomberg reports that Iran and Oman remain short of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump signalled patience, saying the US could wait for Iran’s economic suffering to soften its stance
  • In the US, Non-farm payrolls decreased 23,000 last month following a combined 103,000 downward revision to the May and June data, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Friday
  • Sharemarkets were positive in the US and Europe on Friday night, with the Euro Stoxx 50 up 0.3% and the three main US benchmarks up 0.3% (Dow) to 1.3% (NASDAQ). The NZ market eased 1% on Friday

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Mark Smith

Senior Economist

Mark joined ASB in 2017, with over 20 years of public and private sector experience working as an economist in New Zealand and the UK.

His resume includes lengthy stints at ANZ and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and he has also worked at the Bank of England, HM Treasury and the New Zealand Transport Agency. Mark's areas of specialisation include interest rate strategy, macro-economic analysis and urban economics.

Born and bred in the Waikato, Mark studied at Waikato University where he graduated with a Master of Social Sciences, majoring in Economics.

Mark's key strengths are the ability to use his extensive experience, inquisitive nature, analytical ability, creativity and pragmatism to dig a little deeper and to deliver common sense solutions to tackle complex problems.

When not at work Mark likes to travel, keep fit and spend time with his friends and family.

Chris Tennent-Brown

ASB Wealth Senior Economist

Chris has worked as an economist for ASB and Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney since 2005. His work has involved monitoring and forecasting trends in the New Zealand economy, with a focus on drawing implications for financial markets and investments. Chris is passionate about savings issues, and much of his current work is focussed on broadening peoples understanding of investments. Chris obtained a Bachelor of Commerce at Auckland University, majoring in Economics, and prior to joining ASB worked in the funds management industry for Bankers Trust and BT Funds Management. With over 20 years' experience in finance, Chris has also spent several years farming, and was a New Zealand representative cyclist. When not at work, Chris likes to travel, cycle, and spend time with his family and numerous pets.

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