Forex news from the Asian trading session - 11 May 2018
Headlines:
- Economists now see RBA only moving in Q2 2019 - Bloomberg survey
- China says that they are in a mutually beneficial oil trade with Iran
- Australia March home loans -2.2% vs -1.8% m/m expected
- PBOC sets USD/CNY reference rate at 6.3524 vs 6.3768 yesterday
- BOJ leaves bond purchase amounts unchanged in regular operation
- US yield curve at its flattest since 2007
- Japan April M2 money stock +3.3% vs +3.2% y/y prior
- RBNZ's Orr says move lower in NZD is "a good thing"
- New Zealand April food prices MoM 0.1% versus 1.0% last month
- BusinessNZ Manufacturing PMI for April 58.9 vs 52.2 last month
- Where are the flows in markets this week?
- REINZ house sales for April YoY 6.6% vs. -9.9% last month
Markets:
- AUD leads on the day, JPY lags behind
- Asian equities mostly higher (Hang Seng +1.4%)
- Gold down by 0.11% to $1,320.20
- WTI down by 0.10% to $71.29
- US 10-year yields flat at 2.965%
- Bitcoin down by 1.90% to $8,920
As we wind down the week, markets appear to be taking a breather here in Asia. There is a lack of directional movement for the most part as trading ranges remain subdued. The dollar is a little on the back foot as we end the session, but nothing major or too notable in the move.
The only notable move during the session was a jump in the Japanese yen at the Tokyo fix, but the move retraced itself thereafter and the yen is the laggard as we pass Asian mid-day.
Major pairs continue to trade in tight ranges with EUR/USD in a 14 pips range, and GBP/USD in a 19 pips range. Pretty much the story of the session.
Equities in Asia are closing the week strongly with the Nikkei and Hang Seng posting over 1% gains so far. The only real laggard are Chinese mainland stocks with the likely reason I can see being the ZTE case - stirring fears of further trade retaliation. They halted main operations after Trump decided to cut its access to American suppliers.
Coming up in Europe, expect things to be a little quiet too with little on the economic calendar.
