Forex news for Asia trading Friday 24 February 2017
- (Brexit) ... UK politics - Conservatives win a seat Labour has held since 1935
- Data due from the US today, no scheduled Fed speakers
- USD on the move, not a lot in it but yen the biggest loser
- PIMCO says PBOC needs to get tougher on debt, yuan to fall long term
- PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.8655 (vs. yesterday at 6.8695)
- Here's why Morrissey should be on the FOMC: How soon is now?
- EUR/USD orderboard
- USD/JPY & EUR/JPY orders
- AUD and NZD orderboards
- RBA Governor Lowe now commenting on urban planning
- Australia press: Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe all but rules out rate cuts
- Morgan Stanley view on the New Zealand dollar, higher against the AUD
- China Securities Journal: PBOC has no need to raise rates in short term
- RBA's Lowe comments on AUD: Hard to say its overvalued, but would like it lower
- RBA's Lowe: Current interest rate setting consistent with sustainable growth
- Morgan Stanley view on the Australian dollar, revise forecast higher
- Here's something to watch out for over the weekend - a letter from Buffett!
- US stocks mixed. Nasdaq the dog.
- Trade ideas thread - Friday 24 February 2017
- More from Fed's Kaplan: Fed should leave its options open to hike in March
- Economic data calendar in Asia today is bare, but RBA Governor speaking
- And, ICYMI: ForexLive Americas FX news wrap: Slowdown in Washington
There was minor across the board strength for the USD, with yen a big (relatively speaking) loser. USD/JPY saw (very) early lows around 112.60 but during the Tokyo morning it managed to trudge its way above 112.90 before topping out there for the session.
EUR, CHF, AUD, GBP, NZD all lost ground against the USD in tiny ranges.
Apart from remarks from Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Lowe (I'll come to these) news and data flow as nearly non-existent (for a few minor bits and pieces, see the bullets above)
RBA Governor Lowe reiterated messages he and the Bank have been sending, most notably on monetary policy that further Australian rate cuts are well off the agenda for the time being. On the Australian dollar Lowe was alos clear, with (to paraphrase but this is the gist):
Would like AUD to be lower, but find it hard to say A$ is overvalued. And, if commodity prices appreciate, would expect A$ to rise as well.
He has said those comments before on the $A (last week) and the comment related to commodity prices is non-controversial.
The Australian dollar remained unmoved through much of Lowe's testimony (3 hours answering politicians questions ... I hope someone bought him a drink when it was over), only dribbling a little lower along with other currencies against the USD as noted above.
As I update some currencies are making a comeback against the USD, the net result is EUR, GBP, CHF, AUD are all little changed against the big buck on the session. The yen is still a little weak for the session, as is the NZD (on session lows).
Gold is little changed, oil too.
Regional equities:
- Nikkei -0.16%
- Shanghai -0.30%
- HK -0.41%
- ASX -0.71%
Still to come:
- Data due from the US today, no scheduled Fed speakers
