Forex news for Asia trading Monday 2 March 2015
- Reserve Bank of Australia leaves rates ON HOLD
- Australian dollar, rates mkts both VERY active in seconds leading up to RBA announcement
- Forex technical analysis: AUDUSD rallies as RBA keeps rates unchanged, but advance is contained
- Australian GDP data due Wednesday - forecasts being trimmed after weaker data
- Australia data - Building approvals for January: +7.9% m/m (vs. expected -2.0%)
- Australia - Q4 BoP Current Account balance: -9.6bn (vs. -11.0bn expected)
- New Zealand data - ANZ commodity price index for February: +1.8% m/m (prior was -0.9%)
- Australia press - Analyst tips Australian dollar to 70 cents
- 18 of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect an RBA cut today
- New Zealand QV house prices: +6.4% y/y (+5.7% prior)
- What to expect from the RBA today - view from 16 banks
- Australia - ANZ Roy Morgan weekly Consumer Sentiment: 112.5(prior was 110.8)
- A preview of the RBA meeting today - another cut coming?
Japan:
- Abe adviser Honda warns BOJ against overheating economy
- Soc Gen says USD/JPY could test 121 ahead of NFP data Friday
- Japan data - Labor cash earnings for January: +1.3% y/y (+0.5% expected)
- Japan monetary base for February: +36.7% y/y (prior +37.4%)
- Oil ... is an "L-shaped" recovery the best that be hoped for?
- Goldman Sachs Partner who called Japan's demise sees similarities with China
- Pro tip: Drawing Mr. Spock on Canadian $5 bill is perfectly legal!
- Hedge fund manager- The Greatest Moneymaking Machine In History- stock prices appropriate
- China press: China may lower interest rates and RRR again in 2015 H2
- Gold - India's gold buying to pick up after import duty left unchanged
- Varoufakis: The worst thing that could happen to Greece is an exit from the euro zone
The focus today was centred on the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting for March... would they cut or not? The announcement was scheduled for 0330GMT but in the seconds leading up to then the AUD jumped ... it appears some in the market didn't have to wait so long for the announcement as everyone else did. You can read all about the leak prescient trading here, have a look at the price chart, and make up your own mind.
OK, moving right along ... the announcement of "on hold" was a surprise for the market, though it was always a close call. AUD/USD had been losing ground slowly but reasonable steady for most of the session leading up to the decision, before consolidating near the lows in the preceding couple of hours. Upon the announcement (and just before it) the AUD jumped and has continued to consolidate around the highs up to as of writing.
NZD/USD followed a similar pattern.
USD/JPY was the other big mover on the session, tripping higher in the post US early going to above 120.25 briefly. Sellers took hold of it, though, as they did to the Nikkei, driving it lower the balance of the day. Exporters and leveraged accounts cited as decent sellers.
EUR/USD, GBP/USD ground out gains, cable up 50-odd points on little news. USD/CHF was lower but has retraced somewhat as I write.
Oil up a tiny amount .... gold was volatile, down $a5 from earlier highs at one stage before recovering the whole lot and making marginal new session highs as I type.
