Forex news for Asia trading on Wednesday 15th September 2021
- US coronavirus - Alaska’s largest hospital has begun rationing its medical services
- After the terrible China retail sales data China officials trying to remain upbeat
- Fitch on Evergrande - say a credit event could result in headwinds ....
- China August data: Industrial Production 5.3%y/y (expected 5.8%)
- All China new home prices +0.2% m/m (prior +0.3%)
- The PBOC has issued a 1-year MLF at 2.95% (same rate as the previous)
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.4492 (vs. estimate at 6.4470)
- Australian consumer sentiment firming despite virus outbreak - restrictions to ease soon will drive it higher
- US President Biden to give a briefing on national security initiative, scheduled for Wednesday US afternoon
- Morgan Stanley on the Bank of England - one of the more hawkish of central banks - GBP implications
- Australia - Westpac Consumer Confidence Index for September +2.0% m/m (prior -4.4%)
- South Korea August unemployment rate 2.8%, a record low
- Japan Core Machinery Orders for July +0.9 % m/m (expected 3.1%)
- China to provide further supportive measures for small exporters
- Semiconductor shortage - Hyundai (South Korea) to suspend production September 15 to 17
- Reuters tankan (September), both manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes drop
- Head of the US SEC wants faster delisting for Chinese firms not compliant with disclosure rules
- New Zealand data - Q2 current account deficit widens to -3.3% of GDP
- The OECD wants a review of the Reserve Bank of Australia
- Semiconductor chips - Taiwan's TSMC announced price rises last month
- ICYMI - Amazon is hiring for more than 11K jobs in Texas, some positions come with a $1K signing bonus
- Chile sees slowing Chinese demand for copper, projects price falling in 2022
- ICYMI - China begins releasing oil from its strategic reserve on September 24
- Trade ideas thread - - Wednesday 15 September 2021
- Private oil survey data shows large draw in headline crude oil inventory
'Activity' data from China today for August showed a miss on expectations, most notably for retail sales which came in at 2.5% growth y/y
expected 7%, prior 8.5%
Industrial production and investment for the month also missed, but its the consumer/domestic sector, as reflected in the retail sales miss, that is the concern in these data. Officials cited the renewed COVID-19 outbreaks and also widespread flooding for the miss. And, they have a point. I think the bigger takeaway is that other economies around the globe are seeing similar (outbreaks and weather events - Germany floods for example) and perhaps there is a bigger picture impact than just in China.
Stockmarkets in China had been slumping prior to the data release and they are posting losses as I update:
China's Shanghai Composite -0.2%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.8%
Japan's Nikkei +0.7%.
China central bank issued a 600bn yuan Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF). An MLF of 600bn was maturing today so a rollover. 1-year term at 2.95%, an unchanged rate.
Across FX there is not a lot of net change. AUD and NZD lost ground, but as I update have recovered somewhat. EUR, GBP, CAD are all barely moved from NY closing levels. USD/JPY popped above 109.70, dipped under 109.60 and is now barely net changed on the session also.
AUD/JPY
