Forex news for Asia trading Monday 23 March 2015
Monday:
- China facing excess capacity in steel, cement sectors - Ministry official
- Morgan Stanley says no Fed tightening until 2016
- Press: "Torrent of Cash Exits Eurozone"
- Barclays weekly FX trade pick: The case for selling EUR/USD rebounds
- What you need to know on US interest rates - where to now for the Fed?
- Ueda Harlow: USD/JPY could fall under 119 if data flow is poor
- The week ahead is a busy one for the US Federal Reserve - 9 speeches coming up!
- China Business News reports CASS - Q1 GDP growth expected at 6.85%T
- PBOC head Zhou: Excessively loose monetary policy ... not favorable for structural reforms
- China Vice Premier: China doesn't need the rapid economic growth of the past
- Weekend oil news: "OPEC won't bear burden of propping up oil price"
- German weekend press: Greek finances to become "critical" from April 9
- Westpac changes its RBNZ forecast - on hold until September 2016
- Goldman Sachs say RBA to cut rates again despite house price gains
- Merkel ally says Greece should take 'last chance' to keep euroVNew Zealand data - Q1 consumer confidence: 117.4 (prior 114.8)
Weekend:
- BOJ staff worried QE has disrupted bond market
- China's Zhang says the Chinese economy faces increased downward pressure this year
- ForexLive weekend headlines
- The one simple reason the global FX war will rage for years to come
- Bank of Italy's Panetta says ECB QE and weak euro are helping Eurozone recovery but risks remain
- Germany's Gabriel says the SPD will not be backing down in US trade talks
- Atlanta Fed head Lockhart: Expects hike in June or July, or maybe September ... unless ...
- OECD says China needs structural overhaul to avoid slowing further
- Japan - Rengo says higher pay rises this year than last, by an average +2.43%
An active, volatile day in currencies, especially for the EUR and NZD.
Some of the ranges were large (for an Asian session), notably: EUR/USD 1.0784/1.0883, GBP/USD 1.4918/1.4990, NZD/USD 0.7549/0.7665
The news headlines are above, but it wasn't a news-driven day. EUR/USD moved higher initially in the early NZ trade, but then gave it all back, and some, falling nearly a big figure before a half-big figure bounce. Flows ruled the roost, with broad EUR selling (EUR/JPY, for example, also off nearly a big figure).
For the NZ and Aus dollars, big AUD/NZD selling played a significant role in movements (macro funds the market chatter as AUD/NZD sellers). AUD/USD was resisilent, which left NZD/USD to rocket higher in the late NZ afternoon; NZD/USD hit stops above 0.7600 and again above 0.7620, sening it to 0.7665 highs before halting and coming off 30-odd points.
AUD/USD took stops out early in the day above 0.7800, but didn;t sustain above the figure. The drop was around 30 points but it ground out a sideways session after that, edged higher and finally took out more stops again, this time above 0.7810. Greg's report on the CME's Commitment of Traders report late Friday noted AUD shorts at 28.8K vs. 76.9K the previous week seems to have indicated a significant shift in positioning.
More to come ...The week ahead is a busy one for the US Federal Reserve - 9 speeches coming up! ... starting today!
And, to conclude.
Sad news from Singapore today. A giant of Asian leadership has passed away: Lee Kuan Yew - Singapore's first PM - has died, aged 91
RIP:
