- NZ Feb trade balance improved to +489 mio from -187 mio
- Japan Feb retail sales -8.2%
- China’s industrial profits fell 37.3% in Feb
A slow news day in Asia and the market was reliant on end-of-Japanese-financial-year flows to provide some volatility after a fairly quiet NY session. Some USD/JPY selling did eventuate with the pair falling from 98.75 to 98.20 just prior to the fix but it bounced back almost immediately. The rest of the day has been a slow grind although USD/JPY and AUD/JPY have lost some ground late in the session as traders square up before the G10 weekend.
Markets: Hang Seng and Kospi -0.5%, Nikkei +0.3%, Shanghai +0.9%. Gold $935/oz and Brent crude $53/bbl.
Ranges: EUR/USD 1.3524/91; Cable 1.4445/93; USD/JPY 98.00/85; USD/CHF 1.1226/76; AUD/USD .6979/.7031.
Have a great weekend.
