- Australian GDP fell by 0.5% in the last quarter, against expectations of a 0.2% rise
- Australian shares and the AUD fell as a result
- BoJ policy board member Suda suggest that there is no need at moment for a zero rate policy
Once again the AUD was the major focus in Asia after a very poor GDP number. The AUD/USD fell below .6300 but was once again held up by large buying from an Asian central bank which is thought to be option related. Sovereign names were seen buying EUR/USD in decent size between 1.2510-20 but once this was filled stops in the EUR/USD were triggered below 1.2500 as USD buying caught on across the board.
Regional stock markets were generally about 1% lower and gold fell from $917/oz to $912/oz.
Ranges: EUR/USD 1.2459/1.2565, USD/JPY 98.14/58, AUD/USD .6287/.6387, cable 1.3987/1.4056 and USD/CHF 1.1751/1.1824.
