Forex news for Asia trading for Tuesday 2 February 2021
- AUD/USD dropping away after the RBA decision and statement
- RBA leaves rate policy unchanged, as expected.
- Japan vaccine head says EU curbs on exports is having a negative impact on supply to Japan
- Bank of England MPC meeting Thursday 4 February 2021 - super-quick preview
- USD lower in Asia trade as 'risk-on' mood picks up (here are the 3 reasons why)
- Japan PM Suga press conference due Tuesday at 1040GMT
- China calls for the relationship with the US to be put back on a predictable and constructive track
- US President Biden says many areas where Republican coronavirus relief proposal does not address urgent issues
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.4736 (vs. yesterday at 6.4623)
- FX option expiries for Tuesday February 02 at the 10am NY cut
- South Korea is preparing a fourth round of coronavirus cash handouts
- HSBC says its 'buyer beware' in silver
- Moderna confirms it wants vials filled with 15 doses of coronavirus vaccine, from current 10
- Republican senator Collins says meeting with Biden has not concluded a deal, but follow-up to come
- US President Biden's meeting with GOP senators at the White House has finished
- NZD traders - heads up for the GDT dairy auction coming up Tuesday
- South Korea gets on board - "herd behaviour like in Gamestop" could increase
- Short interest in GameStop (GME) plummeted to 39% , from 114% in mid-January
- Australia weekly consumer confidence 112.1 (prior 111.2)
- GME is getting smashed lower in US after hours trade
- CME futures exchange has raised the margin on silver futures by 18%
- US CFTC is "closely monitoring recent activity in the silver markets"
- Japan's Health Ministry panel will decide on the Pfizer vaccine on February 12
- Fed's Bostic - GameStop, retail trading volatility does not seem like something monetary policy should address
- Trade ideas thread - 2 February 2021
- SNB Chair Jordan says CHF foreign exchange interventions are very important
- Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau raised his concerns re the US' 'Buy American' campaign with US VP Harris
The price of Silver eased lower in futures trade following the 18% rise in maintenance margin announced by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The chatter of Wall Street bets folks said to be seeking a squeeze similar to the operation on GME stock is beginning to fade as the reality of a market approximately 200 times bigger than GME, and without significant hedge fund short interest (not to mention open short interest that can expand), bites.
After the silver news we had a round of positives for risk, from Moderna to squeeze more vaccine shots into bottles to boost vaccination efforts, US stimulus talks progress, China indicated it wanted a more constructive and stable relationship with the US, and the PBOC injected funds (there is more on this later in the wrap). Risk responded with gains for equities and a dip for the USD. EUR, AUD, NZD, GBP, CAD all higher.
Later in the session, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced the results of its first monetary policy board meeting for 2021, leaving rates unchanged and boosting its QE program beyond the previously-scheduled mid-April expiry of the programme. The Australian dollar did, however, give back over half its session gain (as I post) - there was some subtle AUD jawboning in the statement.
The People's Bank of China injected funds for liquidity to the banking sector again today and interbank lending rates eased back. Further liquidity is expected to be added as we approach the Lunar New Year holiday (which begins at the end of next week), helping to dissipate the liquidity squeeze.
China reported the lowest number of coronavirus cases on the mainland in a month.
