- Japan chief cabinet secretary Matsuno has no comment on yen intervention
- China (May) Retail sales -6.7% y/y (expected -7.1%)
- The Bank of Japan are in buying JGBs, the Bank warned us they'd be doing this.
- China 200bn CNY MLF injection, 1 year, rate unchanged
- Head of 3 Arrows Hedge Fund says " fully committed to working this out"
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.7518 (vs. estimate at 6.7463)
- Speculation that a crypto-focused Singapore-based hedge fund is insolvent
- Australian data - Westpac monthly consumer confidence for June: -4.5% (prior -5.6%)
- Australia minimum wage rises 5.2%
- Japan has raised its machinery orders assessment, says showing signs of pick up
- Australia data - ANZ Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence 80.4 (prior 87)
- Asia FX - Intervention from Hong Kong's 'central bank' to support the HK dollar
- Reuters monthly Tanakan survey - manu mood improving, services steady
- Goldman Sachs RBA outlook (more): 75bp rate increases in coming months can't be ruled-out
- NZ data - Current Account/GDP ratio for Q1 is -6.5% vs. expected -6.3% & prior -5.8%
- Goldman Sachs forecast the RBA to hike 50bps in both August and September
- China's Communist Party has weaponized its health app - used against legitimate protesters
- ICYMI, UK news - Scotland plans a new independence referendum
- Video: What to expect from the FOMC and where to watch for a market turn
- Forexlive Americas FX news wrap:Yields/USD moves higher into the FOMC decision tomorrow.
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday, 15 June 2022
- Oil - private data shows a build (vs. draw expected) in headline crude inventory
EUR, AUD, NZD, GBP all rose against the USD during the session here. The moves have varied by currency, of course, but some of them have been large by usual Asia FX range standards. The collapse for bonds and equities has thinned out liquidity, even more so in this pre-FOMC session. This has exacerbated the moves across the FX majors board.
USD/JPY and USD/CHF have lost some ground also. USD/JPY did pop above 135.50 early in the Asian morning but subsequently retraced back to briefly dip under 135.00. USD/CAD is down a little also.
The data focus for the session was on China. May retail sales declined, but not as badly as expected and not as much as in April. Industrial output surprised with a positive and a beat.
In Australia we had authorities give an increase in the minimum and award wages. Up 5.2% and 4.6% respectively. Business lobbyists warned, of course, that these would fuel inflation and further rate rises. But, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Lowe had warned of much higher inflation to come, and higher interest rates, the previous evening in an interview on the TV in Australia so no one paid too much attention to the lobbyists.
We head into the June Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting with consensus calling for a 75bp rate hike, sharply higher than the 50bp consensus earlier in the week. ICYMI:
Just as a head up, the journalist who kick-started the move towards a 75bp consensus has tweeted out a bit of a hedge.
