Forex news for Asia trading Monday 19 June 2017

  • RBA Governor Lowe spoke earlier today - recap
  • UK press reports one person stabbed after van drove into pedestrians
  • More on the PBOC big OMO injections today
  • China property price data for May: New home prices +10.4% y/y (prior +10.7%)
  • PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.7972 (vs. Friday at 6.7995)
  • More on the surprise Japanese trade deficit in May
  • FX rates update - USD/JPY back above 111 (where's my "USD/JPY 111" cap again?)
  • More from RBA's Lowe: No crisis in global jobs market, wage growth is problem
  • London - reports a van has driven into group of people
  • Japan, Trade balance for May: Y -203.4bn (vs. expected Y 43.3bn)
  • RBA's Lowe speaking - domestic economy likely to grow faster
  • HSBC's Baraton says euro could see further strength
  • UK data - UK - Rightmove house prices (June): +1.8% y/y (+2.8% expected)
  • China may lift restrictions on banks (& others) trading in futures market
  • NZ Services PMI for May: 58.8 (prior 52.8)
  • Macron's party gets majority by itself - latest count has it at 291 seats
  • New Zealand - Q2 consumer confidence edges higher
  • (More oil): UAE energy minister - no need for extraordinary OPEC talks
  • Your weekend sailing update (but srsly ... Iran & China conduct joint naval drill in Gulf)
  • French election update with 92% of votes counted
  • The week ahead in Asia - here is the big focus (spoiler: RBNZ)
  • Trade ideas thread - Monday 19 June 2017
  • Economic data due from Asia today - Monday 19 June 2017 (RBA's Lowe speaks)
  • Iran fires missile strike on Syria
  • Monday morning Forex prices, early indications 19 June 2017

Weekend

  • Poll shows Merkel sitting comfortably
  • Further positive CAD momentum ahead; what's the trade? - Nomura
  • There's only one bet safer than a T-bill and it pays 16%
  • Kashkari says other FOMC members sympathetic with his views
  • Death toll from the London fire rises to 58
  • Putin says any new sanctions from US would be harmful but talk of retaliation is premature
  • UK election reflection - An ode to uncertainty
  • Germany's Zypries would welcome a UK U-turn on Brexit

USD/JPY popped above 111 from circa 110.80 lows earlier in Asia today. Japanese data today was a little less supportive for the yen (a surprise trade deficit, but note that exports were still strong - see bullets above for details on the results) but the extent to which that drove yen selling is debatable - there was some broader USD strength evident also. Not a lot, but we did get some EUR and CHF weakness against the USD.

These have pretty much returned to be unchanged for the session as I update though.

In Japanese politics, PM Abe is seeing a slip in his approval rating, which will be something to keep an eye on.

On the news front, we had the French election result, where Macron has easily won a parliamentary majority, though not by as much as was perhaps projected. Still, a healthy majority for him with his coalition partner.

From London an attack on people along the lines of the attack we saw two weeks ago - a van being driven into people and then a stabbing (more details still to come on this). This time it appears to be directed against Muslim people in London.

AUD and CAD both had limited ranges against the USD. RBA governor Lowe spoke today (see bullets above).

And so to NZ and the NZD. We had some data from NZ earlier, both improving (consumer confidence and services PMI). These data points do not generally have much immediate impact on the currency but there is no denying the timeline today - the data and came out and later the NZD drove higher. Causation or just correlation? You can decide but I ain't buying the 'causation' argument. I'll happily go with the 'more buyers than sellers' for the move (and all the corrections that statement usually gets :-D ).

NZD gained against the USD, up towards 0.7300 and also on crosses. AUD/NZD was a notable loser.

Oh, The RBNZ June policy announcement is due later this week: The week ahead in Asia - here is the big focus (spoiler: RBNZ)

Regional equities:

  • Nikkei +0.62%
  • Shanghai +0.66%
  • HK +0.92%
  • ASX +0.39%