ForexLive Asia FX news: USD weaker nearly across the board

Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 18 October 2016

GBP flash crash & Brexit - 'The Economist' weighs in with 3 lessons
CBA on new RBA Gov Lowe - where he stands on a range of issues
Westpac says there are valuable insights in the RBA minutes & Lowe speech
RBA Gov. Lowe making the headlines with his Trump comment
ANZ on the Australian dollar - commodity gains are priced in
RBNZ inflation gauge for Q3 +1.5%
China Sep. non-fin outbound investment +56.9% y/y
Shanghai Securities News reports 2 more Chinese banks to securitize NPLs
Analyst says oil market closer to balance than expected
PBOC sets USD/CNY central rate at 6.7303 (vs. yesterday at 6.7379)
China press reports insurers to be more active in stock market investment in Q4
RBA Oct. meeting minutes: Appreciating AUD could complicate economic rebalancing
Japan finance minister Aso: Closely watching FX moves
GBP doin' what it does best in Asia - gappy gappy :-D
Housing market "Bermuda triangle for economists", time & again forecasters get it wrong
Japan firms sceptical of BOJ hitting inflation target ... 25% say its impossible
NZ inflation data - ASB still expecting an RBNZ cut at next meeting
Australia - ANZ/Roy Morgan weekly consumer sentiment: 117.8 (prior 117.5)
New Zealand Q3 CPI: 0.2% q/q (vs. expected 0.0%)
More from RBA Lowe: Further AUD appreciation from here would complicate adjustment
RBA's Lowe: Australian interest rates already very low
US - Ford shutting four plants over next few weeks to align production with demand
New Podesta emails released after Assange cut off
Tuesday trade ideas thread - 18 October 2016
Is BOJ's Kuroda already a lame duck?

New Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia Philip Lowe delivered a speech in Sydney today, quite early in the session. Later, in the RBA minutes for the October meeting we got a further elaboration of views. The net takeaway for near term policy direction seems to be that the bank is waiting for Q3 CPI (October 26) as a key input for its next policy decision (meeting on November 1), but the hurdle is high for a cut in November.

AUD/USD has gained on the session, putting on about 50 or so points from US finishing levels.

NZD was also a mover today, popping about 50 points ... about 20 seconds before the release of the better than expected inflation data (Q3). Whether there is anything suspicious about that I'll leave it to others to decide, but it sure smells funny. Despite beating expectations inflation still came in lower than in Q2. A later release by the RBNZ of its own 'preferred' measure of core inflation was much higher. The NZD has maintained its strength, trading around 0.7180 and a touch higher.

USD/JPY dropped 20-odd points quite quickly today but has since bounced back to be around mid range as I update.

GBP/USD had a sharp rise, popping some stops above 1.22 and then higher still (briefly above 1.2270) before it dropped back to 1.2220. Its just above there as I update. Liquidity issues remain an ongoing issue for GBP pairs as market makers (those that remain!) exercise (justifiable) caution. If you can get set on your amount in this market it's a fine trading instrument.