Forex and Bitcoin news for Asia trading Friday 12 January 2018
- "China Trade Surplus With U.S. in 2017 at Record High"
- On Friday Trump is expected to announce has extended sanctions relief to Iran
- Sth Korea finance minister: Banning cryptocurrency exchanges needs more consultations
- South Korean media report government may release coordinated Crypto measures soon
- Chinese crackdown on Bitcoin mining: 730% hike in fees
- Heads up for China data due today or over the weekend maybe - credit creation
- China trade balance for December: +310bn CNY (vs. expected CNY 235.2bn)
- China December trade balance data due at the top the hour - preview!
- Here are the US comments on steel imports ICYMI
- Japan economy minister Motegi can't make his mind up on deflation
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.4932 (vs. yesterday at 6.5147)
- Australian dollar pops 0.7900, USD/JPY on its lows now too
- Japan finance minister Aso says he is still collecting opinions on crypto currencies
- More support for the 'next support' level in USD/JPY
- Australia Credit card purchases AUD 27.9bn (prior AUD 27.5bn), balances for November
- EUR/USD new high in Asia. No joke! (But did you hear the one about the ECB minutes?)
- Japan - Current Account Balance for November, ¥ 1347.3bn (expected ¥ 1836.1B)
- Fed's Dudley spoke earlier: "Warns of Overheating Risks" - recap
- Add this to the data due today - China December trade balance data
- Re Bitcoin: "The survival rate of cryptocurrencies is low" (here is the data)
- The ECB Minutes and the surge in euro - analysis from Barclays
- Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: EUR rises on ECB minutes. Dollar falls on PPI miss.
- S&P lowers rating on Brazil to BB- from BB, outlook raised to stable from negative
- Trade ideas thread - Friday 12 January 2018
- New Zealand - Building permits (November): +10.8 % m/m (prior -9.6%)
- Trump (WSJ interview) says he probably has a very good relationship with Kim
- Trump, Macron, Iran, North Korea, nukes. You know, the usual
- Economic calendar due from Asia today
- US stocks end the day at highs. Strong gains. Record levels.
- More from Dudley: forecast for 3 rate hikes this year a reasonable starting point
Its nice to get a chance to write about euro moves in this time zone, I think this is a first for 2018! EUR/USD extended its gains as Asia got trade underway this morning, causing whiplash amongst many traders as it surged as much as 10 points above its overnight high. There was no fresh news nor data, the post-ECB minutes move just carrying on a tad higher in the morning.
The weaker USD was somewhat to blame, as EUR didn't fare quite so well on its crosses here; EUR/JPY, for example, managed above 134.00 but did not threaten its overnight high.
USD/JPY, meanwhile, was more range bound, 111.06/35 pretty much holding it.
The Australian dollar had a pop above 0.7900, but that appeared to be something of a last gasp as it pretty much immediately started to give it back - some remarks on US steel import restrictions perhaps in the pipeline weighed somewhat:
- Australian dollar pops 0.7900, USD/JPY on its lows now too
- Here are the US comments on steel imports ICYMI
Chinese trade balance data for December (and the figures for 2017 as a whole) came along without causing too much of a ripple - the numbers are in the bullets above. Just a note or two:
- December imports dropped steeply and were a big miss - this was another negative for the AUD on the session
- China's trade surplus with the US hit a record high in 2017, which should make for some interesting discussion at trade talks.
Early in the session New Zealand building permits data came in at a big bounce back from the prior. New Zealand dollar is little changed on the session. As is USD/CAD.
Gold gained a few dollars.
