The forex trading headlines for Asia trading today
- The Fed’s Charles Evans and Jeffrey Lacker both gave speeches and answered questions, with comments reported on newswires. there was nothing new in their comments, unsurprising and expected.
- Glenn Stevens was appointed to an extra three-year term as RBA head
- Australian February HIA New Private Home Sales came in at a poor reading of -5.3% m/m (vs. +4.2% prior)
- Australia February Trade Balance Goods & Services much better than expected at -178m (vs. -1000m expected)
- China March Services PMI improved to 55.6 (vs. 54.5 prior)
- As did China March HSBC Services PMI, in at 54.3 (vs. 52.1 prior)
- North Korea banned entry to Kaesong industrial zone
- UK BRC Shop Price Index +1.4% y/y (vs. +1.07% prior)
EUR/USD traded lower during the Asian session. there was no reported news driving the move, just a continuation of the downtrend from the European and and North American session. Bids around 1.2800 were filled in but no further follow through to the downside.
GBP/USD, too was sold, down through 1.5100 toward 1.5075, again there was no reported news driving the move.
USD/JPY found support around 93.30 in the Tokyo morning, trading to test 93.65/70 resistance before settling around 93.50 for the balance of the day. As a reminder, tomorrow is the conclusion of the two-day BOJ policy meeting, the first with Kuroda at the helm. We expect an announcement of new policy measures sometime after 0300/0330GMT Thursday.
AUD/USD had a very narrow range. The new house sales data (see above) came in lower, but the trade balance figures were an improvement on expectations. Chinese services PMIs (both official and HSBC/Markit) came in better.
