Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 22 January 2020
China coronavirus news:
- Thailand says 4 confirmed cases of coronavirus
- Macau confirms first case of coronavirus
- Coronavirus news conference - virus adapting, mutating
- Coronavirus - infection among medical workers validate the people-to-people transmission
- China says infection of medical staff in virus outbreak show there are loopholes in treatment methods
- Global Times confirms the key take aways of the coronavirus news conference
- Reading between the lines on this coronavirus news conference
- China coronavirus news conference - 440 cases, 9 deaths
- China stocks - Shanghai Composite drops to lowest this year
Other:
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.8853 (vs. yesterday at 6.8606)
- FX option expiries for Wednesday January 22 at the 10am NY cut
- Iran missile attack - Additional US troops have been flown from Iraq to Germany for evaluation of injuries
- Australian jobs report is due on Thursday 23 January - preview
- Wednesday 22 January 2020 is Bank of Canada monetary policy meeting day - preview
- Australian data - another drop for consumer confidence, deeper into pessimistic zone
- Data from South Korea - Q4 2019 GDP fastest growth since 2017
- Brexit - EU to offer the UK a trade deal on worse terms than with Canada, Japan & others
- USD/JPY sold on virus concerns (but here are where the bids are)
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 22 January 2020
There was little news of note today ahead of the scheduled press conference from China on the coronavirus outbreak. Ahead of the presser the USD gained ground, higher almost across the board against the majors here with GBP the most resilient.
The news out of the press conference was of further cases and deaths reported and a containment effort taking place while seeking understanding of the virus and how it is spreading is a work in progress. Long story short, though, the key summary points were:
- source of the new coronavirus infection has not been found
- route of transmission is not yet fully understood
- new coronavirus could mutate
- the virus is at risk of spreading further
- the infection of medical workers is confirmation of human-to-human transmission
Meanwhile further cases were reported from Thailand and also from areas in China away from the epicentre at Wuhan.
As the news conference progressed the USD lost some ground, giving points back it had gained against the AUD, EUR, NZD while USD/JPY and USD/CHF continued to move higher. Curious moves, not fitting 'risk off' mode.
AUD/JPY off its lows as the news conference progressed:
Of note in the data today the 'green shoots' in Asia look to have continued with the South Korean Q4 GDP report showing the fastest growth q/q since 2017 (its ain't all roses, y/y growth was the slowest since 2009)
