Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 14 April 2020
- Morgan Stanley publishes its projected timeline of upcoming coronavirus cases
- Cruise ship booking firm sees 40% increase in its 2021 bookings compared to 2019
- The number of potential coronavirus vaccines in development is now above 70
- Japan's economy minister says cash economic payments not until May
- China Customs spokesman says there are signs of recovery for foreign trade
- ICYMI: S&P ratings give a 1 in 3 chance of Australian AAA rating downgrade
- China trade balance data for March, exports down 3.5% y/y (yuan terms)
- Australia business conditions and confidence largest fall ever. AUD goes up.
- Australia March business confidence -66 (prior -4) & conditions -21 (prior 0)
- Xinhua reports two coronavirus vaccines to go into clinical trials
- China trade data due Tuesday 14 April 2020 - preview
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.0406 (vs. yesterday at 7.0300)
- FX option expiries for Tuesday April 14 at the 10am NY cut
- NZ finmin Robertson is consulting with industry on when work can resume
- A northeastern China province is reporting increasing cases of coronavirus
- More yen strength ahead - 2 reasons why (and why 107 is USD/JPY support)
- US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin wants a bipartisan bill for further small business relief
- Trump says he thinks the OPEC+ agreement will lead to a 20m bpd cut in oil output
- Australian economy re-opening - Federal and State governments to discuss on Thursday
- Australian Treasury's grim forecast on unemployment
- 5 scenarios for the NZ economy: COVID-19 pandemic a ‘once in a century’ shock
- Coronavirus - UK Times report lock down to be extended in the UK to May 7
- Nine US states begin to plan for reopening economy
- Trade ideas thread - Tuesday 14 April 2020
- France's Macron extends lockdown to May 11 - but some reopening hints
USD weakness and a further step up in risk appetite were the themes here during the Asian timezone, following similar during US trade on Monday.
Data flow during the session showed:
- Australian business confidence and conditions fell by historically largest ever amounts in March
- China trade data signs of recovery (questions persist though on the veracity of Chinese data)
News flow was light, markets took heart from China approving two potential coronavirus vaccines for clinical trials.
EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, CHF, CAD all gained against the US dollar to varying extents. The move up for the Australian dollar came despite that previously noted dreadful business survey (see bullets above for details).
USD/JPY was a relative laggard, its not too much changed from its late US time trading level. On sessions where currency trades gain its not unreasonable to see a lower yen (outflows from the Japanese currency) but that was not really the case today. I noted earlier in the session that yen is likely to be supported by the grim outlook for earnings reports to come, and also concern over the weakness in the global economy - these two reasons may have been to the fore to account for the relative yen steadiness today.
