Forex news for Asia trading for Monday 1 March 2021
- China rare earths getting some press ... Australian also
- Oil - heads up for the OPEC+ meeting this week - eyes on supply easings (maybe ...)
- A reminder from New Zealand as Auckland plunges back into lockdown - outlook volatile
- Goldman Sachs not bothered by US yield rise, no impact on equity valuations
- US media - Democrats abandon backup plan on $15 per hour minimum wage hike
- China - Caixin/Markit Manufacturing PMI for February: 50.9 (expected 51.4, prior 51.5)
- The RBA splashed out on bond-buying today, double the usual amount. Ball now in other central bank courts.
- Data from CoreLogic showed Australian house prices +2.1% m/m in February
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.4754 (vs. Friday at 6.4713)
- Japan - Jibun Bank/Markit Manufacturing PMI (final) for February 51.4
- Australia home loans for January +10.5% m/m (expected +2.0%)
- Australia - ANZ job advertisements for February +7.2% m/m (prior 2.6%)
- Australia Inventories for Q4 0.0% q/q (vs. expected 0.2%)
- RBA in buying long-dated Australian government bonds, double the usual amount
- Here's a EUR/USD short trade idea, target 1.1750 & stop-loss at 1.2220
- South Korea February exports +26.4% y/y (per working day measure)
- Australia - Melbourne Institute monthly CPI inflation for February 0.1% m/m (prior 0.2%)
- RBA monetary policy meeting Tuesday 2 March 2021 - preview
- US 10 year yields slip a little further in Asia morning trade
- More on J&J vaccine - shipment has begun, deliveries expected Tuesday
- JP Morgan says "have transitioned into a different regime for FX" - higher USD
- Weekend - Iran rejected a European Union offer to hold direct nuclear talks with the US
- Australia Manufacturing PMI #2 for February (this the Markit PMI) 56.9 (prior 57.2)
- Australia February PMI 58.8 (from 55.3 in January)
- Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine gets vaccine advisory panel approval
- Weekend data from China, PMIs fell in February
- Central bankers believe they have a secret weapon against inflation. They're tragically wrong.
- Biden says 'time to act' on $1.9 trillion stimulus
- New Zealand to a 7-day lockdown for Auckland
The moves were early in the session here with currencies leading the way higher against the USD. AUD/USD gained more than 50 points from its Friday low, but trading higher were also GBP, NZD and even EUR. The reopening of trade in US Treasury's for the week (futures) saw yields drop back a little more, equity index futures gained. Of note then was Australian government bond-buying from the Reserve Bank of Australia, buying double the usual amount to drive Australian 10 years down more 30bps in yield. This aggressive action followed Friday's off-schedule buy of 3 year Australian government bonds by the Bank, further indicating their opposition to higher rates in the market. The AUD response to the intervention was basically nil though, the upmove for AUD came earlier, as already discussed. There was also little AUD response to data showing another strong rise in house price (CoreLogic monthly measure) and then housing lending up 44.3% y/y for a record high annual growth since 2003.
Data over the weekend from China showed a still expanding set of official PMIs, but at a slower rate. Monday data from China followed up with the private manufacturing PMI, also expanding at a slower rate.
USD/JPY hit a 6 month high today circa 106.70. Gold edged steadily higher to recover some of its losses on Friday US time. Bitcoin moved higher from lows just above $43K.
