Forex trading headlines for Asia Thursday 05 June 2014
- Japan Buying Foreign Bonds, Y -721.3B (plus, the rest of this data)
- JPMorgan expects the next RBA move to be an interest rate hike in Q3 2015
- Officials less alarmed by sluggish exports, another sign the BOJ feels little pressure to act anytime soon
- Westpac says market may be surprised by next week’s RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement
- Australia – April Trade Balance data: -122m (vs. expected +510m)
- BOJ’s Sato: Japan economy likely to resume moderate recovery trend
- China – HSBC/Markit Services PMI at 50.7 (prior 51.4) and Composite PMI at 50.2 (prior 49.5)
- China’s Biggest Trade Financer Cutting Iron Ore-Backed Credit
ECB meeting coming up on Thursday in Europe:
- Will the ECB intervene to sell the euro?
- PIMCO: “Consensus for action is high … risk the ECB under-delivers relative to the market’s lofty expectations”
- Global macro hedge funds have been building their bets that the euro will fall
The NZD/USD was a sustained gainer on the session, albeit in a small range, seemingly in response to Westpac saying the RBNZ is likely to be more hawkish than expected next week (see bullets, above).
USD/JPY, too was a mover, dropping away from US timezone highs (again, albeit in a small range) as yields on UST drifted a bit lower, to settle above 102.50. Nomura like it over coming months.
EUR, CHF and GBP didn’t do a great deal (although given the moves in NZD and yen they lost ground on those crosses … d’uh).
The CAD lost a small amount, with USD/CAD up around 15 points on the session.
To round out the wrap … the AUD. It traded sideways throughout the morning ahead of the trade data (see bullets, above), dipping 20-odd points on the surprise deficit, well below reported consensus expectations. It soon recovered though, despite the HSBC services and composite PMI mixed result (see bullets, above). A tight range for the AUD too today.
Roll on the ECB announcement!
