Forex news for Asia trading Monday 15 August 2016
- ANZ on GBP positioning - Leveraged funds net short near 5 month high
- OIL - Reuters on 'potential producer action to prop up market'
- Reports of shots fired at JFK Airport
- Morgan Stanley weekly outlook: USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF
- Japan economy minister Ishihara: Economy recovering, some weakness
- PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.6430 (vs. Friday at 6.6543)
- Fibonacci shows Donald Trump still has a chance
- Japan Q2 GDP (prelim.): 0.0% q/q (expected +0.2%)
- This week we start to get the official UK economic data for post-Brexit vote
- UK data - Shop traffic up, employer hiring plans down
- UK data - Rightmove house prices (August): -1.2% m/m and +4.1% y/y
- NZ Services PMI for July: 54.2 (vs. previous at 56.4)
- Japan equity market - 'Tokyo Whale' named (at least they haven't eaten it)
- Brexit could be delayed until end 2019 - here's why you shouldn't care
- Trade ideas thread - let's kick it off for the new forex week
- Monday morning FX open levels - 15 August 2016
Weekend:
- Brexit could be delayed until late 2019 with UK government departments not ready yet
- BOE's Haldane says monetary policy can only offer "a short term balm" for UK economy
- Donald Trump still has a chance
- PBOC's Ma says China should weaken its focus on GDP in the future
- Interactive Brokers to cut off US forex clients Sept 1
Whether it was the still lingering weekend, the northern summer, the Olympics, or all (or maybe none) of those, the week got off to a subdued start here in Asia. Ranges for the currencies were small.
There was little weekend news (see bullets above). News flow here was light also, with Japanese Q2 GDP data the focus on the economic calendar. The data came in at a miss overall, with flat growth for q/q and much lower for y/y. Net exports dragged (a negative 0.3% contribution to GDP), as did business investment.
Bloomberg reported on the private consumption result, citing "a leap-year effect that flattered 1Q spending. Stripping out that distortion, the expansion in GDP would have been 1.2% in 2Q." They added that fiscal stimulus package is "likely to support growth later this year. On balance, the GDP figures point to the BOJ keeping its policy unchanged next month." Despite the various interpretations of GDP, though, the yen did not do a huge amount on the session. USD/JPY is little changed from late Friday levels in the US.
EUR/USD and USD/CHF are also little changed, EUR and CHF both slightly weaker against the USD.
Cable is a few tics higher after a 40 or so point range on the session. Mike reported on the weekend than Brexit may be delayed until late 2019.
AUD is barely changed on the day, NZD/USD a hair lower.
Gold and oil have added a few cents.
Just a note on one new item - there were reports of shots fired at JFK airport in the US - so far police investigation has concluded there is no evidence shots were fired. Nevertheless, Terminal 8 was evacuated as a caution.
Regional equities:
- Nikkei -0.23%
- Shanghai +2.35%
- HK +0.64% (Note, the HK press report the launch date for the Shenzhen - Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme will be announced sometimes this week, to officially launch in December)
- ASX +0.21%
