Forex news for Asia trading for Thursday 28 January 2021
- US Sec State Blinken says will stand against pressure from China
- ANZ's AUD/USD year-end target: 0.82
- China steps to combat latest coronavirus spread coming to the fore for oil
- Here's a huge consensus short - will the Redditors target it for a squeeze? (spoiler - its the USD)
- Sun-drenched region of Australia to supply up to 20% of Singapore's electricity (by 2027)
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.4845 (vs. yesterday at 6.4665)
- FX option expiries for Thursday January 28 at the 10am NY cut
- Australian coronavirus vaccinations look like being delayed further
- Reddit's wallstreetbets forum has reopened
- US Treas Sec Yellen says trying to better understand the risk of stranded assets
- Base case for the ECB is "on hold" ... but watch the euro
- Elon Musk says Tesla will definitely make an electric van in future
- Australia Q4 Export Price Index ++5.5% q/q (expected +5.3%) & Imports -1.0% (expected -1.0%)
- USD/JPY above its US high
- Japan data - December retail sales -0.8% m/m (expected -0.7%)
- The wallstreetbets subreddit just went private
- Australian stock exchange listed miner is up 33% today (spoiler: its ticker code is GME)
- Biontech, Pfizer: studies show vaccine neutralizes variants
- US media reports Discord has banned Wall Street Bets from its platform
- China Securities Journal says the PBOC is expected to offer liquidity into holidays
- FOMC - Powell will err on the side of removing accommodation too slowly rather than too quickly
- FOMC responses coming in - "no surprises"
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 28 January 2021
- New Zealand trade balance for December 2020: NZD 17m (expected 800m NZD)
- US market regulator says its actively monitoring volatility in options, equity markets
USD/JPY extended its overnight rally, popping above the US high circa 104.20 and adding on just a few points to fall short of hitting 104.40 as I post.
There was also USD strength evident against AUD, NZD, CAD and to a lesser extent EUR and GBP.
News and data flow was slow. There was continuing interest in developments surrounding the Gamestop surge (which is not a strong enough word for its rise) with wallstreetbets being banned from a social media platform (Discord), its Reddit being taken private before later being restored to public access. A listed Australian mining stock sharing the same ticker code, GME, was up >50% on the day here (see bullets above for earlier post when it was up 30%).
Regional stocks declined in line with the broad slump on Wall Street on Wednesday:
- Shanghai Composite -1.48%
- HK's Hang Seng Index -2.12%
- Japan's Nikkei -1.23%
- Australia's ASX -2.22%
