The forex trading headlines for Asia Wednesday 29 January 2014
- IMF’s Viñals: Says Fed is prudent to start tapering monetary stimulus
- Moody’s: New Zealand government finances are improving
- German court verdict on OMT rescue for Southern Europe – delayed until April?
- New Zealand finance minister English: Moody’s confirms NZ fiscal program on the right track
- New Zealand finance minister English: NZ dollar gain may reflect rate rise expectations
- Australia – Westpac leading index for December: +0.1% m/m (prior was -0.1%)
- ANZ revise their forecast for the pipeline of potential major projects down
- Australia – Skilled vacancies job data for December: -0.6% m/m (vs. prior was +0.2%)
- RBNZ publishes low-deposit lending figures for December
- State of the Union address by President Obama more here
- State of the Union – What is myRA retirement savings account?
- Japan PM Abe: World is focused on Japan’s revival
- Mark Carney to enter Scottish independence vote debate on Wednesday … but not to publicly endorse or oppose
- Wall Street Journal: RBA likely to conclude there’s no place for more cuts at their February 4 meeting
I don’t think I am ever going to write this ever again, so here goes:
The AUD traded higher on a rate hike from the Turkish central bank. So did the kiwi and so did USD/JPY. Go ahead, pinch yourself … I’ll wait. OK? Yes, you are awake, no you are not dreaming.
The reasoning went along the lines that this move by an emerging market country to bolster their currencies has eased back on the stampede for safety (eg. yen) and back into risk.
USD/JPY ran up to briefly above 103.40, running into sellers ahead of 103.50. It traded back to 103.10 and chopped 103.10/28 for the balance of the session (as of writing). yen crosses generally higher with the more solid USD/JPY.
AUD/USD got marked up from around 0.8770 to above 0.8800 before it retraced and consolidated above 0.8780. Its been overall bid all this week so far, trading back to overnight highs but encountering sellers again above 0.8820 and pulling back to the figure. It sits just above there at present.
NZD/USD followed a similar sort of pattern. with support around 0.8243/48 and resistance above 0.8290 holding the range. Getting a bit lost in he hoopla surrounding the FOMC annpuncement in the US on Wednesday is the fact that the RBNZ are holding their monetary policy meeting and will make their announcement one hour after the FOMC.
EUR/USD and GBP/USD remained in tight ranges during the session.
USD/CHF gained ground on the reaction to the Turkish central bank decision, up from 0.8970 to top out ahead 0.9005, and is of just above 0.9000 as of writing.
USD/CAD had a tight range session too, not much more than 20 points.
