The forex trading headlines for Asia trading today

  • Late NorAm news: Egan-Jones downgrades UK to AA- from A+
  • Australia TD/MI inflation data for March 0.2% m/m (vs. flat in February)
  • Australia March TD/MI trimmed mean inflation gauge +0.1% m/m, +1.8% y/y
  • Japan February retail trade -2.3% y/y (vs. -1.8% expected)
  • Japan February retail trade +1.6% m/m (vs. +0.5% expected)
  • UK March GfK Consumer Confidence -26 (vs. -27 expected)
  • Australia private sector credit +0.2% m/m (vs. +0.3% expected)
  • Australia private sector credit +3.4% y/y (vs. +3.5% expected)
  • Australia job vacancies -10.1% (vs. -7.0% prior, revised from -6.9%) for the 3 months ended in February
  • New Zealand February building permits +1.9% m/m (vs. +3.0% expected)
  • New Zealand M3 money supply for February 6.6% y/y (vs. 6.4% previously)
  • BOJ head Kuroda addressed the upper house of the Japanese parliament today. He didn’t add anything of substance to what he had said on Tuesday.
  • Chinese stocks fell hard during the morning session today, the CSI300 down more 3%
  • China Industrial Profits +17.2%y/y (vs. 5.3% prior)
  • Moody’s affirms Ireland’s rating at BA1/NP with a negative outlook
  • Moody’s affirms Portugal’s rating at BA3 with a negative outlook

EUR/USD had a very quiet session, ticking a little higher toward 1.2790 where it found the same resistance it found in the American morning, selling off to 1.2770/75. GBPUSD hit 1.5145/50 resistance and drifted lower from there. There was little in the way of fresh news to drive either pair. The market is awaiting Cypriot banks reopening scheduled for 1000GMT.

AUD/USD got hit lower as the Chinese stock markets opened down for the day. It fell 30 points in as many minutes, only finding support ahead of the 1.0410/15 level. NZD tracked the move lower, but to a lesser extent, in little more than a 20 point range for the session.

USD/JPY had a quiet start but lost ground as soon as Kuroda began his testimony in the upper house of the Japanese parliament. It seems the market is now impatient for specifics from him regarding amounts of assets of asset purchases and the timing of them.