Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 11 March 2020
- John Hopkins Uni says US coronavirus confirmed cases now above 1,000
- Media reports Australia's coronavirus stimulus package will be between $15bn-$20bn
- China has approved a 10.5bn yuan airport project
- S&P ratings agency says recession Australia is likely
- Nissan says it will recommence production in China's Hubei province this week
- Children's hospital in London cancels surgery on kids with serious heart problems - coronavirus
- For the UK people - Manchester City v Arsenal postponed over outbreak
- US securities regulator (SEC) staff in DC working from home after coronavirus case
- Taiwan is examining banning short selling of stocks
- US politics - Rumours that Bernie Sanders to announce pulling out of campaign
- ICYMI: White House strongly considering federal assistance for oil producers
- US politics - Biden well ahead on primary voting
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.9612 (vs. yesterday at 6.9389)
- FX option expiries for Wednesday March 11 at the 10am NY cut
- South Korea reports 242 more confirmed cases of coronavirus, 6 more deaths
- Mainland China coronavirus numbers: 24 new confirmed cases and 22 new deaths
- Australia housing finance data (January). Headline +4.6% m/m (expected +3.0%)
- South Korea's exports up 21.9% y/y in the first 10 days of March (there is a but …)
- Coronavirus - New Zealand considers extending its travel ban to more countries
- South Korea reports 90 confirmed cases of coronavirus linked in Seoul
- China press warn of the danger of Trump administration downplaying the coronavirus
- Trump administration extends Huawei licence through to May 15th
- Japan has just recorded its biggest one-day rise in confirmed coronavirus cases
- Japan MoF official says rapid yen swings, up or down, are unacceptable
- Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence Index: 91.9 vs 95.5 prior (lowest since Dec 2014)
- Coronavirus - Australian PM Morrison announces AUD 2.4bn health package
- California's Coachella festival has been postponed until October (coronavirus concerns)
- Russia’s Energy Ministry will meet with the country’s oil companies to discuss future cooperation with OPEC
- Tokyo Olympic exec floats idea of postponing the Games
- UK government minister, Nadine Dorries, Health Minister has Coronavirus
- US VP Pence says CDC to give recommendation in next 24 hours to combat virus spread
- More from RBA's Debelle - China very focused on getting back to full output
- White House economic adviser Kudlow says still working on the coronavirus economic package
- Coronavirus update from Italy - hospitals overwhelmed, not treating all other emergencies
- RBA dep gov Debelle: "Just too uncertain" to asses coronavirus impact beyond Q1
- New Zealand - Card Spending for February - retail beats expectation
- US regulators approve a new futures exchange - "The Small Exchange"
- China offers to send Italy 1000 lung ventilators, 2 million face masks, 20,000 protective suits and 50,000 test kits.
- Oil: Theater of war
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 11 March 2020
- Private oil inventory data shows than larger expected build in US stocks
- 48-year old American coronavirus survivor describes what the virus was like
There was no bombshell news today, just the steady drip of news of the chronic coronavirus outbreak (see bullets above).
US equity overnight futures trade saw a slump (ES is down 2.5% as I update after a very solid rise on Tuesday in the US). Regional equites have followed suit, with only China holding positive:
- Nikkei: -0.86%
- Hang Seng: +0.7%
- Shanghai: +0.32%
- ASX: -2.50%
There has been weakness in the USD too, with EUR, yen, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD and NZD all positive against the big dollar to varying extents.
On a slightly more upbeat note:
- China announced approval for a new airport in its north-west.
- In Australia RBA deputy Governor spoke, urging a government fiscal response. During the afternoon there was a report on the size and nature of the stimulus package (only media reports at this stage, not an official announcement) in the order of AUD15-20bn which will include limited cash distribution.
Price movement in oil continued, net higher during the session here, as was gold.
Interesting graph from ANZ here in Australia showing the recovery in coal use (as a proxy for recovery of the manufacturing sector):
