Forex news for Asia trading Friday 17 January 2020
- Japan data - November Tertiary Industry Index for Nov: +1.3% m/m (exp. 1.0%)
- AUD traders - heads up for the Australian jobs report next week - even more focus than usual
- China data dump today - "numbers suggest that China's economy has stabilised"
- Japan's cabinet office releases mid-term economic projections
- More from China's stats bureau on today's data - China will maintain prudent policy
- US military confirm several US service members injured by Iranian missile attacks on January 8
- China stats bureau says the economy showed improvement in Q4
- The news of 11 US troops injured in the Iranian missile attack on Jan 8 is getting wider circulation now
- China data - AUD adding a few tics
- China December Industrial Production 6.9% y/y (expected 5.9%) & Retail sales 8.0% (expected 7.9%)
- China Q4 GDP 6.0% (vs. 6.0% expected). Full year GDP 6.1% (expected 6.2%)
- Reports of at least 11 US soldiers injured in the Iranian missile attack last week
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.8878 (vs. yesterday at 6.8807)
- FX option expiries for Friday January 17 at the 10am NY cut
- Bank of Korea leaves rates unchanged at 1.25%, as expected
- Singapore's exports rebound in December after nine months of contraction
- White House plan to juice the stock market ahead of the election (via Fox!)
- Poll of economists - most of them say ECB should not move from negative rates (you know what to do)
- More from the EU's Hogan: EU wants to reset trade relationship with the US
- (ICYMI) President Trump to nominate Shelton and Waller to Federal Reserve Board
- Here's a bank view looking for CHF to gain vs. USD (but there's a but)
- EU's Hogan had talks with the US on trade issues - says auto tariff issue not raised
- Trade ideas thread - Friday 17 January 2020
- NZ - BusinessNZ Manufacturing PMI for December drops to 49.3 (prior 51.4)
China's Q4 and full 2019 year GDP was published today (see bullets above, but in brief):
- Q4 y/y hit in line with the median estimate and was the same as in Q3
- 2019 as a whole came in at a slight miss
FX response was little more than a minor wobble. Across the major currency board there is little net change to report. Ranges have been subdued and most are tracking near their mid-point as I post. USD/CAD is on its session high but the range has been only circa 10 points. Try not to sneeze and it shouldn't move.
News flow was light. About the only item of note was the US military did admit there were military personnel injured in the Iranian missile attacks on January 8. You'll recall at the time officials denied any casualties, but today's news confirmed there were, some reported as traumatic brain injuries. For markets there may be implications to come from this news, perhaps along the lines of tweets from the US President, perhaps something more substantial. Keep on the watch.
