Forex and Bitcoin news for Asia trading Friday 6 April 2018
The session kicked off some volatility after a subdued early twilight zone with the US President saying he wants the US Treasury to consider a further $100bn in tariffs on Chinese imports to add to the $50bn already proposed.
- Trump has instructed Treasury to consider another $100bn of tariffs on China
- Yen up, AUD down: President Trump issues order to consider MORE tariffs on China
- US official says US is willing to talk with China on trade, but only if they are serious
- $50bn in tariffs to $150bn ... Trump triples down
- Heads up - why to expect a delayed response from China on the latest trade war escalation
- Won't be a full blown trade war & if NFP strong USD/JPY to 108
- ANZ: "Crude oil trade has so far been immune to the retaliatory tariff action"
- US Agr dept - going to try to limit damage to agriculture sector from trade war
The news shook USD/JPY and AUD/USD.
USD/JPY fell from around 107.40 to lows circa 107 while AUD/USD dropped from levels above 0.7680 to circa 0.7655. Europe/UK/US traders might not impressed with those response sizes but this is Asia, we'll take what we get, thanks!
Gold benefitted, up from 1326-odd to above 1332.
The news hit pre-Tokyo trade at the thinnest liquidity time of the 24 hour cycle. Equity futures dropped, USD/CHF fell away a little also, while EUR/USD added on 20 or so points. Cable was a laggard but eventually edged its way to be +20 or so points up on the session (at its highs).
We've spent the hours following retracing most of the moves, with AUD/USD on to a fresh session high and back to where it started now around 0.7680-odd!
Apart from this breaking announcement we got some Japanese data (as as often the case with data from Japan there was not much impact) indicating real wages continue to fall, and household consumption slumped again (see bullets above).
We await the jobs report from the US.
More:
- JP Morgan head says the Fed & other central banks may have to take more drastic action
- Morgan Stanley on AUD/USD - sell it! (AUD vulnerable on trade, USD support from growth)
- Japan wages data was out earlier - fell for the 3rd consecutive month in February
- Japan data - Household spending big miss on estimates: Down 0.1% y/y (vs. exp +0.4%)
- Equities: Citigroup's 'bear market checklist' concerning, showing to buy the dip
- SNB's Maechler - cryptocurrency hype, high volatility, speculative instrument
- ICYMI: Swiss National Bank's Maechler says franc remains a safe haven
Still to come:
