ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: ‘Risk’ a little softer

  • Forex news for Asian trading on Thursday, 2 March 2023

There were some swings in major FX, albeit in limited ranges. Net for the session the US dollar gained a little. US equity index futures lost some ground on Globex after having dropped for a second day during US time on Wednesday. As tensions surrounding still-high inflation in the US rise, Goldman Sachs added in another FOMC rate hike to its outlook (see bullets above) and Nomura and Natwest have beefed up their forecasts also. Analysts at those two banks are now projecting a +50bp rate hike from the Fed at the meeting on the 21st and 22nd this month.

There was some eye-popping data from Australia today. Monthly building approvals can be a volatile data series, with substantial swings as multi-unti approvals come and go. Today was a stand out though. January approvals dropped 27-odd per cent on the month. The previous month was +18%, so, yeah, the data is choppy. Still, today’s result was the worst for 10 years and the fifth consecutive monthly decline. The trend is firmly lower for this data series, Reserve Bank of Australia rate hikes and pressured house prices weighing.

Asian equity markets:

  • Japan’s Nikkei 225 -0.1%

  • China’s Shanghai Composite +0.18%

  • Hong Kong’s Hang Seng -0.5%

  • South Korea’s KOSPI +0.9%

  • Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 basically flat

USD/JPY inched higher

usdyen chart wrap 02 March 2023

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