Forex trading headlines for Asia Friday 8 August 2014

The big news of the session was the press conference by US President Obama at which he said he has authorised air strikes against the genocidal militants in Iraq (see bullets, above).

EUR and GBP had been gently drifting lower ahead of the announcement, and saw some further losses on confirmation. USD/JPY and EUR/JPY saw big losses on the announcement, as did stock markets, with the Nikkei down more 3% at one stage. Other regional equity markets saw falls also today.

Oil moved higher on the session in response, as did gold.

AUD and NZD had been being sold off through the Asian morning, nothing too fierce but both dropped further on the airstrike news.

EUR bounced back, to barely changed on the session as I write, as did GBP and yen crosses, but to a much lesser extent.

AUD and NZD found a bid on the announcement of the Chinese trade data; a huge surplus with a big, big growth in exports and surprise fall in imports.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced the outcome of their two-day meeting (no change), but see bullets, above, for more) to no discernable effect.