Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 7 September 2016 - Australia officially registers 25 years without a recession
- More from Williams: Expect shallowest series of hikes in US history
- More on the 'will they or won't they' BOJ September policy meeting
- China’s banks cutting staff numbers
- Why Australia GDP growth fastest in 4 years will not be welcomed at the RBA
- "After a summer lull, China’s economy is likely to have picked up"
- More from Fed's Williams: Low yields not just due to Fed policy
- Australian Q2 GDP responses: 1 "Misses expectations" 2 "Fastest growth in 4 yrs"
- Australia Q2 GDP: +0.5% q/q (expected +0.6%, prior +1.1%)
- Fed's Williams: Makes sense to raise rates sooner rather than later
- People’s Bank of China sets yuan reference rate at 6.6555 (vs. yesterday at 6.6676)
- BoA on what prompted the USD/JPY drop (BOJ divided on policy direction)
- USD/JPY get active in early Tokyo ... drops hard
- Australian data: Construction PMI for August: 46.6 (prior 51.6)
- Japan press overnight: Abe & the BOJ, LNG from France, 40yr JGBs
- NZ data: Q2 Manufacturing Activity Volume: +2.8 % q/q (prior -0.7%)
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 7 September 2016
Q2 2016 Australian GDP data today was the focus, though we also got a speech and various Q&A from San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams.
But, first things first, USD/JPY plunged in early Tokyo trade, slipping under 102 and then smashed to under 101.30. Various sources were cited for the heavy selling, stop losses (yes, there were), leveraged accounts selling (yes, some indeed did) and a piece in the Sankei saying there are divisions within the Bank of Japan re the direction of policy.
USD/JPY (along with yen crosses) dropped hard; USD/JPY subsequently had a bit of a bounce (30 odd points) but has drifted back to near lows as the hours passed.
AUD GDP came in at 0.5% on the quarter (Q2, April to June), which was slightly below expectations that had been bumped to 0.6% from 0.4% earlier in the week, and at half of the q/q growth recorded in Q1 (1%).
- Data is here
- Some of the analyst responses are here
- And maybe the RBA is not quite so chuffed, being concerned about AUD strength
The Australian dollar had drifted off a little in the hours leading to the data (tiny move), and the response to the data was a quick dip, only to run into bids and so a slow and small grind back toward session highs. I'm tending to think that after its good September so far the AUD can drift a little back now the big data is out of the way.
NZD/USD ground out a small gain on the session. Elsewhere EUR, CHF and GBP (against the USD) are all barely changed on the day.
Gold has edged tiny up, as has oil.
Regional equities:
- Nikkei -0.70%
- Shanghai +0.36%
- HK -0.27%
- ASX -0.06%
