Forex news for Asia trading Friday 14 October 2016
- More on higher China inflation: "a good signal for the economy’s stabilization"
- More from Fed's Kashkari: Expects more sluggish US economic growth
- Asia wiggle: AUD, NZD, GBP higher. Yen lower (what have I missed?)
- China Sep. CPI: 1.9% y/y (expected 1.6%) ... also PPI
- Fed's Kashkari remarks on TBTF on the wires
- PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.7157 (vs. yesterday at 6.7296)
- Reserve Bank of Australia Financial Stability Review
- More on the Singapore GDP for Q3: "struggling in the face of a global slowdown"
- Singapore Q3 GDP: 0.6% y/y (expected +1.7%) (Also, MAS statement)
- Japan data: PPI (Sep.): -3.2% y/y (expected -3.2%)
- Former RBA head says low growth may be the new norm
- Aussie fund manager Neilson - 'Very encouraging' that global PMIs turning higher
- Barclays looking for GBP/USD to 1.10 by end 2017
- UBS likes gold higher
- Japan press on what's driving the yen 'roller coaster'
- Trade ideas thread - Friday 14 October 2016
The CPI for China in September beat expectations, but of even more note was the PPI coming in at a non-negative for the first time since January of 2012, nearly 5 years. Higher coal and steel prices cited, and perhaps an indication of the reduction in over-capacity (though more evidence will be needed for this). The higher PPI is also a sign that profitability for Chinese firms may be taking a turn for the better. Again, we'll need to see more evidence, but a good sign in the data today.
Prior to the Chinese data we got Q3 GDP from Singapore, which was poor and showed the slowest growth (year-on-year) for 7 years. Simultaneous with the data release came the announcement from the Singaporean central bank (MAS) that they had left monetary policy unchanged. In subsequent hours the USD/SGD moved to its highest since March.
USD/JPY was a mover today, chopping its way net higher towards (but not getting to) 104.. Its around 103.90 as I update and close to its session's high.
EUR/USD has lost some ground overall, down from early highs around 1.1055 to under 1.1040. USD/CHF is up tiny overall on the session.
AUD and NZD were more active. AUD/USD popped up to 0.7600 while NZD/USD made it to circa 0.7130. The Reserve Bank of Australia released its latest financial stability report today, with no shocks (see bullets above) in store. Teasing out monetary policy implications from the report might be subjecting it to torture - there was nothing really jumped out. The bank is keeping close watch on housing market developments, with two cities in particular showing signs of ample apartment supply to soon come on line. The bank will be alert for risks this may pose but did not overtly mention any monetary policy implications.
GBP had a (relatively) subdued session, with a dip early to circa 1.2260 followed by a 40 odd point rally and a slide back toward the lows as i update. There was no specific UK news hitting the wires of any importance during the session.
Regional equities:
- Nikkei +0.24%
- Shanghai -0.53%
- HK +0.55%
- ASX +0.01%
- In Thailand, stock jumped nearly 3.5% at the opening
Still to come:
- Heads up for China data due out over the weekend
More:
