Forex news for Asia trading for Wednesday 13 January 2021
- US State Dept warns of sanctions risk on EU companies associated with Russian gas pipeline project to Germany
- There are indication some Chinese manufacturers will shut early for New Year due to COVID-19
- ANZ revise their RBNZ forecast - expect one more cut only, to 0.1% in May 2021
- US daily coronavirus death toll hits a new daily record high near 4,500
- China has had the biggest daily jump in COVID cases in more than 5 months
- Deutsche Bank looking for buy opportunities in EUR/USD
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.4605 (vs. yesterday at 6.4823)
- FX option expiries for Wednesday January 13 at the 10am NY cut
- Fitch Affirmed New Zealand's Foreign-Currency IDR at 'AA'; Outlook Positive
- Australian data - Australian Job Vacancies in the 3 months to Nov: +23.4% (prior +59.4%)
- Heads up for a Japan PM press conference Wednesday 7pm Tokyo time
- US President-elect Biden expected to unveil his economic stimulus plan on Thursday
- New Zealand - ANZ Commodity Price index for January: +1.8% m/m (prior +0.9%)
- Morgan Stanley warn of RBA "push-back" against AUD strength
- HSBC on the USD, say front end rates need to be higher to matter for FX
- The US CDC says all international travellers entering the US must show a negative COVID-19 test result (from Jan 26)
- Goldman Sachs says bitcoin is starting to mature but institutional money is a tiny fraction of the market
- Some background on the BOJ contemplating slashing GDP forecasts
- The Bank of Japan is considering cutting its economic growth forecast
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 13 January 2021
- Private survey oil inventory show a larger than expected headline draw
- ICYMI - The planned visit to Taiwan by the US' ambassador to the UN has been cancelled
- NZ data - ANZ Truckometer for January: 0.4% m/m (prior -0.3%)
Major FX was stuck in tight ranges through the session here. EUR/USD (up) and USD/JPY (down) added just a little to their US moves (weaker USD) but there was not a lot in it.
AUD/USD is a notable loser, not by much, with little in the way of an obvious catalyst for the small drop. The PBOC did set the onshore yuan weaker than expected today which had some impact.
Gold has been quiet, BTC spent much of the session below US$34K and is not far from there as I post.
News on the virus continues to be grim, China had its biggest jump in newly confirmed daily cases for 5 months (more than 100) while the death toll in the US moved higher at a record daily rate well above 4,000.
