Forex trading headlines for Asia Thursday 10 July 2014
- New Zealand ANZ Truckometer for June: -0.8% (vs. prior -2.0%)
- New Zealand – Business NZ manufacturing PMI for June: 53.3 (prior was 52.6)
- UK data – RICS House Price Balance for June: 53% (expected 55%)
- Asahi reports Japan economy minister Amari says Japan nominal GDP key factor for 10% sales tax
- Japan data – Corporate Goods Price Index (CGPI) (PPI), Tertiary industry index and machine orders – machinery order plunged a record amount in May, casting doubt on stated capex outlook
- Federal Reserve Bullard: Surprising drop in unemployment to fuel inflation, bolsters case for rate hike early 2015
- A mixed bag for Australian employment data – Employment Change for June: +15.9K (plus the rest of this data), includes analyst reactions
- A slightly disappointing China trade balance for June: +$31.60 bn (vs. expected +$36.95bn)
- Bank of Korea cuts 2014 GDP forecast to 3.8% from 4.0%
The Australian dollar was a focus today in the session. It spent the early going finding support around 0.9410 and from there it edged higher as we approached the release of the June employment report. These reports are notoriously volatile and can produce FX volatility in their wake … and today didn’t’ disappoint. The data itself was a mixed bag. Westpac said of it, for example, that if you look you can find something in the June Labour Force Survey to fit any current view on the Australian economy. The AUD initially jumped to hit 0.9457 but then got sold down rapidly to 0.9410/15. Chinese trade data was next, 30 minutes later, and on this clearly disappointing result the AUD fell again; it headed briefly, and only by a few tics, below 0.9400, bounced a measly 10-odd points and then fell back below the figure (barely) as I type.
The Kiwi $ had a much smaller range, popping above overnight highs (by a few tics only) before giving back 15 or so points.
The yen strengthened a small amount, dropping about 10 points against the USD (maybe 15) and lying on the floor there. EUR/JPY was similar, but a tiny bit of a move higher in EUR/USD (when I say tiny, we’re talking less than 10 pips) kept it from looking too awful (it only appears to have one foot in the grave as I type).
Cable popped fleetingly toward 1.7165 and then drifted 15 points back down.
USD/CAD was basically sideways, swissy too.
Gold added a few bucks, oil continued its overnight drift off a little more.
