Forex news for Asia trading Monday 21 March 2016
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closes down 0.31%
- Key events and releases for the week ahead
- Goldman sticks to strong dollar call
- NZD February credit card spending -0.4%
- The Hang Seng index to open up 0.3% to 20,738.25. Shanghai composite up 1.0%
- PBOC sets Yuan reference rate at 6.4824
- UK Rightmove house prices rise by 1.3% MoM in March
- Australia Turnbull. Early election to be held July 2 if pushed toward double dissolution election.
- Weekly outlook from Morgan Stanley
- NZD Net Migration for February 6070
- Quiet start to the week. GBPUSD gaps lower but recovering
- Westpac Consumer confidence falls to 109.6 vs 110.7 last quarter
- Japan markets will be closed today
- NZ Westpac consumer sentiment due at 5 PM ET/2100 GMT
- PBOC leader warns about rising debt
- Video: Was the FOMC decision made at the G20?
- Bundesbank's Weidmann "It would make sense to pause"
The week got off to a slow start. Australia's PM Turnbull moved closer toward pushing a double distribution election and that seemed to put a lid on the AUDUSD. Weekend news that PBOC warned of rising debt also helped pressure both the NZD and the AUD. The PBOC set yuan lower at 6.4824 (vs. 6.4730)
In NZD, net migration continued to make new records although the net rise was less than last month. Westpac consumer confidence for the Q1 was weaker at 109.6 vs 110.7. That helped to keep a lid on the NZDUSD.
The GBPUSD gapped lower after weekend news that cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith resigned. The resignation brought back Brexit concerns and governmental disharmony. The fall was limited mainly to the 1st hour of trading. After which, the GBPUSD rallied back toward the closing level (it never quite reached it though - 1.4472 close, 1.4467 high). From there the drift was back to the downside.
The EURUSD trading in a narrow up and down 33 pip trading range. There was no discernible trend. The same is true for the USDJPY although most of the session was spent below the closing level from Friday. By the end of the session both the EURUSD and the USDJPY had moved back toward unchanged from Friday's closing levels.
Overall the USD was the strongest rising against all the major currency pairs albeit very modestly against the EUR, JPY and CHF. Most of the rise was against the AUD, NZD and CAD.
