Forex headlines for May 21, 2014:
- BOJ keeps monetary policy steady in unanimous vote
- BOJ decision (full statement)
- Japan April trade deficit ¥808.9B vs ¥646.3B expected
- Japan exports +5.1% y/y vs +4.4% exp
- Australian Westpac consumer confidence plunges 6.8%
- Australian Q1 wage cost index 2.6% y/y vs 2.6% expected
- Australian skilled job vacancies -0.2% vs -0.16% prior
- New Zealand April credit card spending -3.2% m/m
- Ex-JPMorgan executive arrested for corruption in Hong Kong
- Fed will move to reverse repo rate as benchmark – Kudlow
- New Zealand April net migration +4080 vs +3840 prior
- Final vote on Fischer’s Fed nomination to take place today
- Big draw in US oil supplies, WTI near one-month high
- Nikkie down 0.7% to 13971
- Gold up $1 to $1295
- JPY leads, NZD lags
USD/JPY is making fresh lows as we speak at 101.15. The knee-jerk to the statement was a jump up to 101.39 but it didn’t last long and the pair quickly slid lower. The statement was largely unchanged but there was an optimistic comment on capex and that’s been enough to raise doubts about further QE. Kuroda is out later so he could clear the air.
AUD/USD was under pressure in the early going as the pair slid down to 0.9216 continuing on the weakness from yesterday. The selling peaked after the consumer sentiment data but a feeling began to creep in that it’s all a little bit overdone and AUD/USD bounced to 0.9240.
Euro trading has been light around 1.3700. We started just below and then perked up to 1.3708, hardly the kind of thing that will inspire markets.
It’s been nice to cover Asia-Pacific trading, it’s a timeslot that gives you a bit more chance to think.
