The forex trading headlines for Asia trading today
- PBOC sets yuan mid-point reference rate at 6.2208, a record high for yuan against USD. This surpasses yesterday’s record high fix for the yaun
- Japan’s deflation continued on display in today’s CPI figures, with National CPI (March) in at -0.9% y/y (vs. -0.8% expected)
- And Japan Core CPI (March) in at -0.5%y/y (vs. -0.4% expected and -0.3% prior). Full release here.
- Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe has instructed cabinet to compile a ‘growth strategy’ before the G8 summit in June
- China MNI April business sentiment indicator rose to 58.5 (prior was 58.2 in March)
- Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a US grains company, improved its bid for Australian company Graincorp this morning, making the deal almost a sure thing to go through now; the bid is worth around $3.4bn
- New Zealand March trade balance 718m surplus (vs. 470m surplus expected),
- New Zealand March exports 4.42bn (vs. 4.28bn expected, and 3.91bn prior)
- New Zealand March imports 3.70bn (vs. 3.82 bn expected, and 3.49bn prior)
- Goldman Sachs expects Australia’s RBA to cut the cash rate by 25 basis points in May (and again by another 25 points in November)
- As of writing the wrap, we are still waiting for the BOJ announcement after today’s policy meeting
In pre-BOJ announcement trade today USD/JPY traded on reduced liquidity, spiking lower to 98.62 before bidders were back in, rallying it 60 points back above 99.00.
The strong fix on the CNY prompted across the board USD weakness, with EUR/USD and GBP/USD trading 40 points higher. USD/CHF lost 25 points as even the milquetoast CHF tiptoed higher.
AUD and NZD, too, traded higher; NZD getting an initial boost from a better than expected trade surplus and then finding bidders on the retrace around 0.8500. AUD/USD say strength not only from the CNY fix, but also from news of the ADM/Graincorp takeover bid looking more likely to come to fruition. AUD lost ground in the early afternoon on the back of Golman’s rate cut forecast.
