Forex news for Asia trading Monday 15 August 2016
- UBS on the FOMC minutes - preparing for a December rate hike?
- No stopping the yen beast
- China's State planner: We failed to meet H1 coal, steel overcapacity cut goals
- George Soros' bearish bet on the S&P500 (& why you should ignore it)
- RBA August Minutes: Rising AUD could complicate economic transition
- PBOC sets yuan reference rate for today at 6.6305 (vs. yesterday at 6.6430)
- Deutsche Bank says to expect more yuan weakness against a stronger USD
- Gold on the move in the Asian morning
- GBP/USD: A Break Of 1.2798 Brexit Low Next; Staying Short - Morgan Stanley
- China - Sales of nonperforming ABS products expected to rise to > CNY7bn in H2
- US equity market - $35bn stock halted on manipulation concerns
- Australia - ANZ Roy Morgan weekly Consumer Sentiment: 117.6 (prior was 114.7)
- NZD traders - dairy auction time! (Tuesday London time)
- Oil - "OPEC deal a tough task"
- Trade ideas thread - Tuesday 16 August 2016
- Strong yen + Brexit wobbles = Sony buys British Ministry of Sound label
- Japanese press today highlights problems with 'strong yen'
Did the Olympics end? Nope. Northern summer over? Nope.
But the weekend became a dim memory in Asia today, with sharp currency moves (lookin' at you, yen). The yen ran away from the field today, with a weak USD also (2 year yield falls noted as contributing to the SUD weakness)
Sydney Morning Herald photo!
From the Tokyo morning USD/JPY started to dribble off a little and really accelerated as the rest of Asia got started. USD/JPY slipped towards 101.00, then under and plunged when it hit below 100.90. As I write its near session lows under 100.50 (its lowest since early July). The drop in USD/JPY took the yen crosses lower, but some yen cross buying has helped some of the other currencies along. Notable, AUD/JPY found buying ahead of 77.00 which has helped AUD/USD bounce quite sharply from circa 0.7665. AUD/JPY nevertheless does look heavy so its questionable if 77 can hold. The buying is mainly from offshore (mostly Japanese names buying ... they are still loving Aussie fixed interest securities).
RBA August meeting minutes were today, but their impact took a back seat to fund flows. Having said this, there was nothing much in the minutes to surprise the markets, check out the bullet above for the headlines and see if there is anything at all in there that hasn't been well-aired and telegraphed.
Having said this, though, there are a few nuances and emphases to note, despite the fact that a lot of new information has come in since the August accompanying statement (the RBA's Statement on Monetary Policy (SoMP) released on Friday (August 6) just a few days after the August 2 decision and a speech from Governor Stevens just last week), notably that Board members noted that while growth is positive, there is room for it to be stronger, which could be assisted by lower interest rates.
AUD and NZD (against the USD) are continuing to climb as I update, both breaking through to new session highs
EUR/USD and CHF/USD are also up somewhat, as is Cable, and as i type USD/JPY is even lower now (circa 100.40).
Gold is higher on the session (gold was an early mover higher today, perhaps related to more news on further accommodation from the PBOC - they confirmed extending more fund (289bn yuan) through the Medium Lending Facility (MLF)).
The Nikkei fell a little in the early going today but has come back from the Tokyo lunch break much weaker.
Regional equities:
- Nikkei -1.20%
- Shanghai -0.52%
- HK -0.14%
- ASX -0.14%
Still to come: NZD traders - dairy auction time! (Tuesday London time)
