Forex news for the weekend and early Monday morning 02 February 2015
Its been an active morning already, and there was plenty of news out on the weekend.
Here’s a quick summary of the weekend news and the bits and bobs so far this morning in early Asia.
Weekend:
Asia:
- China PMIs fall – manufacturing gauge back in contraction for 1st time in 2 years
- Australia press: Panel predicts RBA on hold in 2015
- Australia press: “Can RBA resist the markets’ call for a cut?”
- China PMIs for January: Manufacturing 49.8 (vs. prior 50.1) & Non-manufacturing 53.7 (vs. prior 54.1)
- Australian politics – State election a stunning blow against PM
- Will the People’s Bank of China push back more assertively against the weak yuan?
Europe:
- More from Greece: Coalition’s Kammenos to propose a tax amnesty on undeclared income
- PM Tsipras says Greece will repay its IMF and ECB debt, but negotiation with EU will continue
- Greece – ECB’s Constancio says Greek emergency funding would be a decision for ECB council
- Greece – ECB’s Liikanen: No lending to Greek banks if no deal by end of February
- Greece – Greek minister wants to link debt payments to growth -Der Spiegel
- Russian government sees 2015 GDP down 3% … (& earlier, Russian central bank cuts main interest rate)
- Italy MPs elect judge Sergio Mattarella as president – seen as a boost for PM Renzi
- Greece – Lazard hired to advise on debt
- JPMorgan to pay $99.5 million to resolve currency rigging lawsuit
- Germany’s Merkel rules out any further Greek debt relief
- ECB’s Praet says QE will help fend off damaging deflation
Analysis
- US stocks fall for the second consecutive month. European markets rally on ECB bond buying
- The strongest and weakest currency pairs for the month of January
- Bond buyers certainly had a good month with the US outperforming
Monday:
- Australia – AIG Performance of Manufacturing index for January: 49.0 (prior was 46.9)
- Australia – ANZ not expecting a cut from the RBA tomorrow, but a shift to an easing bias
- No moves from the PBOC on Sunday
- Goldman Sachs says RBA to hold tomorrow
- USD/JPY dropping hard in the early going
- Australia press – RBA determination to cut interest rates … most likely on Tuesday
- Chatter about a soft floor from 1.05-1.10 in EUR/CHF Monday morning Forex prices, early indications
