Forex news for Asia trading Friday 16 June 2017

  • More on the BOJ. Put this one in the 'fat lot of good that did' file.
  • Here's one to print out & stick on the fridge: BOJ meeting dates for 2018
  • BOJ Street was brought to you today by the number 80tln and the letter zzzzzzzzz
  • BOJ announce policy remains unchanged
  • An update while we wait on the Bank of Japan
  • What levels are you watching for the yen over the BOJ announcement?
  • Will the BOJ talk about exit strategy in today's announcement? Or in the presser?
  • People’s Bank of China sets yuan reference rate at 6.7995 (vs. yesterday at 6.7852)
  • While we await the yuan 'fix': "China averts cash crunch but not liquidity tightness "
  • Singapore May trade data: NODX down 1.2% y/y
  • USD/JPY through 111
  • WSJ: Investors Fear Policy Misstep by the Fed
  • Ito says its not surprising the BOJ JGB buys are dropping
  • More on the IMF on euro - economic recovery “has gained momentum”
  • Its Friday Witch Day on ForexLive! Witch Hunts, triple witching ... its all happening!
  • Australian Prime Minister mocking US President Donald Trump - audio
  • 2 quickie BOJ previews
  • NZ data - BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index: 58.5 (prior 56.8)
  • More on the Aussie job market data - AUD and RBA implications
  • Bank of Japan due today - preview
  • UK PM May calls middle east leaders urging them to de-escalate Qatar situation
  • What time is BOJ announcement today? There is one man on the planet who knows.
  • Ahead of the BOJ today - household consumption strongest in 7 months?
  • Trade ideas thread - Friday 16 June 2017
  • ICYMI: Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: Dollar rises as traders digest Fed
  • On the calendar for Asia - its Bank of Japan day
  • Greek fin min weighs in now - much more clarity now

It was a day of waiting for the Bank of Japan policy announcement.

But ... there was some movement (this is Asia so it wasn't that much movement ... but still).

USD/JPY moved up above 111 in the Tokyo morning and sat above the figure for a couple of hours before setting off to establish a new session high just over 111.20.

Other currencies traded gently more or less sideways or a little, which help yen crosses. EUR, CAD, NZD and CHF were the 'more or less sideways' while GBP and AUD ticked up. Cable approached its overnight high but didn't quite get there.

There was very little in the way of fresh news during the session. On the US political front there were some changes mentioned on Cuba policy (to be announced Friday US time from Miami) but I didn't post on these, what currency do they use in Cuba anyway? (thats a rhetorical question BTW).

The People's Bank of China set the mid rate for the yuan (against the USD) much weaker today, and injected the most funds into money market via OMOs since January this year. There is some liquidity tightness in China ahead of the end of this month, the large fund injection from the PBOC today a sign they will be seeking to minimise potential disruption.

The announcement from the Bank of Japan came and, as expected, policy remained unchanged as did the economic outlook (the Bank did boost its assessment of consumption though). Yen remains little changed, USD/JPY is just off its session high.

Next up, Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda press conference at 0630GMT.

Regional equities:

  • Nikkei +0.76%
  • Shanghai -0.26%
  • HK +0.44%
  • ASX +0.23%