Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 7 February 2017
- RBA announce rates remain on hold
- Hey, while we wait for the RBA, EUR being sold
- Westpac remarks on NZ Inflation Expectation data
- NZ 2 year inflation expectations for Q1: 1.92% (prior 1.68%)
- IMF comments on Greece - no further fiscal consolidation needed
- PBOC sets USD/CNY central rate at 6.8604 (vs. yesterday at 6.8606)
- NZ Monthly Economic Indicators January 2017
- RBA announcement due at 0330GMT - UBS on the outlook for 2017.
- RBNZ news - Governor Wheeler to retire in September when his term ends
- UK - Barclays credit card January data "early signs (of) the strain of inflation"
- FXCM says Gain Capital Holdings to purchase its US accounts
- UK data - BRC sales like-for-like for December: -0.6% y/y (expected 0.9%, prior 1.0%)
- Japan finance minister Aso: FX levels decided by market
- Question: Who do you want on the other side of your FX trade?
- Australia - more chatter of a ratings downgrade?
- JP Morgan Macro Outlook
- Australia data - ANZ Weekly consumer confidence: 117.5 (prior 118.1)
- Fed's Harker: March FOMC should be on table for rate decision
- Australia - Construction PMI for January: 47.7 (prior 47.0)
- CFTC orders FXCM to pay $7M penalty for defrauding retail forex customers
- Yen bulls snorting, stamping feet ... ready to charge?
- (more) NZIER’s Shadow Board recommends the RBNZ hold the OCR steady
From the beginning ... Which was pretty slow. Early moves from the yen, with USD/JPY falling under its overnight lows to circa 111.60. Yen crosses were softer alongside the falling USD/JPY.
EUR/USD lost ground, as did the CHF against the USD (USD/CHF higher). AUD weakened alongside, ahead of the RBA announcement (I'll get to that). NZD was relatively stable, down just a few points (more to say on the NZD also ... it had a big drive higher, but we'll get to that).
Cable was a good (relative) performer through all this, GBP/USD trading higher even as the EUR and CHF lost ground. The up move in cable was not large, stopping well before 1.2490 and stabilising somewhat.
NZ inflation expectations data came in well above their reading for the previous quarter, to their highest since Q3 of 2015. NZD/USD responded quickly indeed, from the 0.7315 area before the release it was hoovered to above 0.7350 and then to just shy of 0.7370 before settling somewhat.
The next focal point for the market was the Reserve Bank of Australia announcement. The Bank left the cash rate unchanged, as every analysts surveyed forecast, while the accompanying statement from Governor Lowe seemed reasonably upbeat,
- Looking for a return to Australian economic growth in Q4 (Q3 showed negative GDP q/q)
- Noting the more positive economic developments in China in H2 of 2016
- Noting also the improvement in the global economic picture
- Also the better terms of trade impact from higher commodity prices
AUD/USD popped higher on the announcement/statement, to above 0.7670. NZD/USD managed to add to its gains a little also, popping 70 itself (0.7370 in the case of the kiwi).
Meanwhile, EUR and CHF continued to slide (and USD/JPY continued its rebound), all hitting new lows (against the USD) for the session.
Industry news:
- CFTC orders FXCM to pay $7M penalty for defrauding retail forex customers
- FXCM says Gain Capital Holdings to purchase its US accounts
Regional equities:
- Nikkei -0.24%
- Shanghai -0.31%
- HK -0.16%
- ASX -0.06%
