Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 18 March 2020
- Orange County California full Coronavirus lockdown. All gatherings, any size, banned.
- New York Mayor De Blasio says the city now 923 cases of coronavirus, up from 644 in the morning
- Coronavirus - US and Canada preparing to close border
- Heads up for Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda speaking from the bottom of the hour
- ANZ forecast COVID-19 to tip Australia into recession. Unemployment headed towards 7.8%
- Coronavirus - Las Vegas Strip officially closing for a minimum of 30 days
- US big 3 automakers - rotating shutdowns at this stage
- New Zealand confirmed coronavirus have nearly doubled in a day, total now 20
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.0328 (vs. yesterday at 7.0094)
- FX option expiries for Wednesday March 18 at the 10am NY cut
- South Korea reports 93 new cases of coronavirus, total now 8,413
- Reports of coronavirus-fighting drugs continue, here's the latest
- Coronavirus - National Bank of Canada considering payment deferrals on mortgages up to 6 months
- Australia has released preliminary data for retail sales in February
- UK new lending scheme to provide short-term bridging finance to business hit by coronavirus
- Coronavirus - Canada will announce details of CAD 27bn economic package on Wednesday
- US Federal Virus Plan anticipates an 18-Month pandemic and widespread shortages
- Mnuchin warned of a possibility the US unemployment rate could hit 20%
- Australian data - leading indicator drops 0.43% m/m
- Coronavirus cases grew the most ever yesterday. Europe a certifiable train wreck. US growth exponential.
- Coronavirus - Westpac revise their Australia forecast, deeper recession, 7% unemployment
- Germany recorded its largest one day increase in coronavirus cases today
- Coronavirus - FAA says air traffic control tower at Chicago's Midway Airport is closed
- Coronavirus - More from Australian PM Morrison - considering further economic / welfare measures
- Coronavirus - Australian PM Morrison declares a human biosecurity emergency
- Oil services giant Halliburton rumoured lay offs (unpaid)
- Fed says its opening primary dealer credit facility from March 20 for 6 months (at least)
- Coronavirus - Virgin Australia will cancel all international flights, and 50% cut to domestic capacity
- German Chancellor Merkel said considering joint EU bonds
- China to expel US journalists from The Washington Post, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal
- G20 leaders summit will be held next week - virtual meeting
- Here the private survey oil inventory numbers - a headline draw
- Japan govt and the BOJ to meet daily on steps to revive economy hit by the coronavirus outbreak
- There is a real chance the US bailout package gets bogged down in politics
- Fed's Bostic says everything is on the table re policy tools
- BoE Bailey call with financial industry titans - most agree shutting markets will not help
- Rumour - Three rockets have landed near the green zone in Baghdad
- Italy bans short-selling of stocks for 3 months
There were plenty of rumours and innuendo on the US coronavirus economic relief plan (this is the pre-eminent market focus right now) but nothing announced as agreed to yet. The news on the negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak around the globe continued unrelenting. News also on what steps governments are taking to limit the spread of the infection and also what steps are being taken to limit the economic fallout. Plenty of these in the bullets above.
Specifically on markets I'll note Italy has banned stock short sales for 90 days. And that the Federal Reserve is taking unprecedented steps to provide liquidity to the market (see bolded primary dealer post above).
FX markets had some swings but the volatility has calmed from earlier in the week.
- EUR/USD had a 30 point or so ranage only and is net little changed on the session.
- With the news flow we did some yen buying on the session, USD/JPY traded lows circa 107.10 and its not far from these as I post.
- AUD and NZD were a little heavy in early going but both have recovered and are hovering near their highs as post. Coming up Australia tomorrow is the expected Reserve Bank of Australia announcement - its seems likely to include a rate cut and perhaps even details on QE plans.
- Oil traded down post the US close but has managed to claw back some of the losses since. CAD has ticked a little stronger as oil prices struggled higher, USD/CAD back under 1.42 and, one for the chart folks, looks like a short term triple bottom. Maybe a head and shoulders for the imaginative:
- Cable has been gently bid, adding on 40 or so points from early session lows. Thgere has been no fresh specific news for GBP.
- USD/CHF has traded a similar pattern to USD/JPY.
