Forex and Bitcoin news for Asia trading Wednesday 11 April 2018
China:
- More still from PBOC Gov Yi: China won't devalue yuan to deal with the US trade moves
- China's NDRC says will support sovereign funds investing in outbound investment funds
- PBOC Gov Yi says bitcoin plays little role in serving the real economy
- New PBOC Governor with forex market intervention comments
- China inflation data for March: CPI 2.1% y/y (expected 2.6%) and PPI 3.1% y/y (exp. 3.3%)
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.2911 ... the Bank raised the onshore yuan reference rate by 160bp from the prior day's mid rate at 6.3071
- PBOC Governor Yi Gang says PBOC will continue with prudent monetary policy
Japan:
- Japan bank lending data for March
- Japan producer inflation (March): PPI 2.1% y/y (expected 2.0%)
- Japan Core Machinery Orders (February): 2.1% m/m (expected -2.5%)
Australia & New Zealand
- NZ monthly inflation indicator: -0.2% m/m
- Australia monthly consumer confidence (April) -0.6% m/m (prior +0.2%)
- New Zealand – ANZ Truckometer for March -0.3% m/m (prior -2.5%)
Notes:
- EUR/GBP 2 technical analysis views: A “crucial level”, but a confirmed sell signal?
- Technical analysis of EUR/USD - "uptrend is being eroded" (target level set)
- CAD & AUD ... Central Bank watch - where to for the BoC and RBA
More:
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 11 April 2018
- Oil - private data shows a surprise build in headline inventory
Not a lot of range for forex rates here in Asia so far today. On the news front the focus was on when we will see military action on Syria and the wait continued. On the data front we got some developments in the region:
- Chinese inflation data came in well under estimates
- Japanese data beat on industrial production and showed slightly higher than expected on producer pricing, while bank lending continued to rise at a slower pace
- Australian consumer sentiment fell (March consumer confidence is still a little above its longer term average but is still well below business confidence levels. This is likely to remain the case until wages growth picks up)
- and indicators from NZ were on the weaker side also
Like I said, on the FX front the moves were minor in nature only and confined to limited ranges. AUD/USD turned down a little from the resistance levels noted early in the session while there was some flow into yen during early Tokyo (overall AUD/JPY had a bit of a drop), Syria jitters cited (reports of warnings on action but nothing concrete at the time).
Still to come:
- UK data Wednesday: Previews of the trade and industrial production numbers (Feb)
- Forex option expiries for today due at 10am NY time (Wednesday 11 April 2018)
- Preview: US CPI expected to hit one-year high (note that US producer price inflation out on Tuesday is indicating generally rising inflation pressures)
- Heads up for FOMC minutes due Wednesday (US time) - previews
