Forex news for Asia trading for Thursday 15 April 2021
- Taiwan's President says Chinese military activities threaten regional peace, stability
- Its the excellent twin headlines on Australia's jobs report being broadcast
- China top official in HK warns of 'counter measures' against foreign powers
- Australian March jobs report - Employment change +70.7K (vs. expected +35K) & Unemployment rate 5.6% (vs. expected 5.7%)
- The PBOC has (effectively) drained 1 year funds from the banking system
- Johnson & Johnson says it continues to believe in the positive benefit-risk profile of its COVID-19 vaccine
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.5297 (vs. yesterday at 6.5362)
- Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda says (you'll never guess what ... ) will add more easing if necessary
- Australia survey of consumer inflation expectations, for April: 3.2% (prior 4.1%)
- Korea's central bank leaves its benchmark interest rate unchanged
- US preparing sanctions against Russia over hacks
- State TV reports Saudi intercepts 2 Houthi missiles, 4 drones
- Ex-RBA board member comments on the COVID-19 'new normal'
- GM to suspend production at 2 plants in South Korea on chip shortage woes
- New Zealand data - Food Price (inflation) for March: 0.0% m/m (prior -0.9%)
- Australia faces a big risk of tariffs on its exports
- ICYMI - recap of Fed vice-chair Clarida's comments
- US CDC extends the pause on usage of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
- New Zealand March house sales +31.2% y/y (prior +14.6%)
- Fed's Clarida drops clues on what to watch for hints of asset purchase taper ahead
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 15 April 2021
- Fed vice-chair Clarida says Fed rates will be lower for longer, will delay lift-off
USD moves led the way here in Asia, with a little weakness early resulting in fresh highs for EUR, AUD, NZD, yen (compared to US timezone trade) against the dollar before these were unwound a little later in the session. I should add though that ranges were small only.
Two items of note that stand out from the session, firstly the People's Bank of China drained one-year funds from the banking system. The Bank conducted a 1 year MLF, injecting 150bn yuan while 156bn mature (100 today, 56 on April 25). You'll have to look closely but that equates to a 6bn yuan drain ... which is a drop in the ocean. Nevertheless the news was greeted with a round of 'PBOC dialling back stimulus' responses ... which is correct but ... well, yes, a drop in the ocean only.
The other item of note was a "stellar" (Westpac description) jobs report from Australia which showed another solid beat for jobs added in the month (March) and a 0.2% decline in the unemployment rate (despite the participation rate rising to a new all-time high). The mar on the report was a fall for full-time jobs but the positives are many:
employment is now 0.5% above its level pre-pandemic
hours worked is above its pre-pandemic high (set in December 2019) to a new record high
average monthly hours worked per person hit its highest since April 2019
the unemployment rate hit its lowest since March last year
underutilisation lowest since December of 2019, underemployment lowest since May of 2014
AUD/USD moves tracked the broader USD move, ie a lower USD early, then retraced.
Regional equities:
Japan's Nikkei +0.1%, Topix +0.4%
China's Shanghai Composite -1%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -1%
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 +0.1%
EUR/USD during the session, up then down in a small range
