Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 17 June 2020
- Macau (China) says it will require arrivals from Beijing quarantine for 14 days
- NZ says has formally begun free trade talks with the UK
- ANZ expect Australia GDP to recover to pre-pandemic levels only in early 2022
- Global Times blames Indian "arrogance and recklessness" for border tensions
- Coronavirus - NZ PM Ardern asks New Zealand military to oversee quarantine, borders
- RBNZ Governor Orr - still has plenty of ammunition
- FX option expiries for Wednesday June 17 at the 10am NY cut
- Direct Australia to New Zealand flight looks set to recommence in two weeks
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 7.0873 (vs. yesterday at 7.0755)
- Australia - Westpac leading index for May: +0.19% m/m (prior -1.47%)
- Dexamethasone is the latest drug to combat coronavirus
- An Australian government senator want tariffs on imports from China, Chinese state-owned assets seized
- Singapore exports (NODX) down in May after 3 months of growth
- Chinese customs intercepts live pests in imported logs from Canada
- Coronavirus - Beijing is tightening lock down even further
- Japan trade balance for May: Y -833.4bn (expected Y -1030bn)
- ICYMI - Indian and Chinese troops fought over border dispute, at least 20 dead
- DB's FX models find their cheapest and most expensive G10 currencies
- Reuters monthly Japan Tankan shows further souring in manufacturers sentiment
- More from Fed's Kaplan - expects strong jobs reports this summer
- NZ current account data for Q1.
- Japan has reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases since 30 May
- Fed's Kaplan says the economy's performance hinges on success of health policy
- Swiss National Bank policy meeting Thursday - quick preview
- (Old news) IAEA has confirmed Iran denied access to nuclear inspectors
- KCNA reports that North Korea will deploy soldiers to the Kaesong industrial zone
- Coronavirus update - Beijing lockdown measures, tightens outbound travel
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 17 June 2020
- Private oil survey data shows surprise build in headline crude oil inventory
There was an early sharp move lower to FX risk trades here in Asia, USD/JPY dropped from above 107.40 to just under 107.20 in just a few minutes while AUD/USD, for example, dropped 30 or so points (other currencies dropped against the USD alongside by varying amounts).
There was not one lone catalyst, decent volume sellers hit the yen crosses in response to
- the heightening geopolitical issues in the region (North/South Korea, China/India)
- escalating lockdown and the raising of the alert level in Beijing on the acceleration of the renewed coronavirus outbreak there
- Japanese export and import data was poor (month of May)
- and to help AUD slip an Australian government senator said she'd like to place tariffs on imports from China and confiscate China sate-owned assets
After that early move there was some retracement and then FX rates subsided back to, and through their earlier lows.
Oil dropped upon release of the private inventory survey results at 4.30pm NY time and after a partial retrace also drifted back down, but has maintained above the earlier lows hit.
