Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 19 December 2018
- Moody's on Australia's budget update - supports rating
- Facebook back in the news - apparently giving away user data again
- Asian business confidence near three-year low, very cautious optimism remains
- UK government to implement plans for a no-deal Brexit in full
- Goldman Sachs on the AUD/USD - should remain under pressure for some time
- Goldman Sachs highlight attractiveness of Chinese stocks for offshore investors
- 2019 forecast for USD/yuan
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.8869(vs. yesterday at 6.8854)
- China's second round of soy buying
- Brexit - UK economy to slip further
- Japan November trade balance: Y -737.3bn (expected Y -630.0bn)
- Australia - Westpac Leading index for November: -0.09% m/m (prior +0.08%)
- More from FedEx (earnings call): Europe has weakened significantly, China has slowed
- New Zealand to raise minimum wage (from April 1 2019)
- Want an hour with one the greatest ever traders? Here you go.
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 19 December 2018
- RBA's Lowe is reported to have met with Australian banks over tightening credit
- New Zealand Q3 BoP Current Account: NZD - 6.149bn (expected NZD -5.935bn)
- Oil - private inventory data shows a surprise headline build
The session ahead of an FOMC in Asia is often a subdued one but we did get some forex activity here today. USD/JPY was a sharp mover in the Tokyo morning, dropping from around 112.50 to under 112.20 (very briefly under there). A drop in US equities in after hours trade (FedEx expressing concern on global growth a likely catalyst) helped the yen gains, as did (once again) falling US yields, and a bit of a stop run targeting under the NY time lows acted as another contributor. Earlier we had Nov. trade data from Japan, a miss. USD/JPY has since slid back towards its lows.
AUD, NZD, EUR and even the hapless GBP all gained against the USD to greater or lesser extents. Moves were not large, but notable nonetheless.
USD/CAD is little changed for the session, it is on the lows of its tiny range as I update.
Gold has eked out a small gain also. Oil has been more or less sideways since its big drop overnight.
In case you are just back from extended holidays, the FOMC decision is during US time today. A hike is still the expected outcome but a 'dovish' hike in that the 'dots' could be net lowered a touch, indicating fewer hikes are expected in 2019.
Still to come:
