Forex news for Asia trading Monday 23 March 2020
- ANZ on Australia's fiscal response for coronavirus economic relief - material and unprecedented
- US Coronavirus economic relief package - Mnuchin and Schumer are meeting again
- South Korea reports 64 more cases of coronavirus, total at 8,961
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.0940 (vs. yesterday at 7.1052)
- FX option expiries for Monday March 23 at the 10am NY cut
- More from NZ PM Ardern: 4 weeks is the minimum for self-isolation
- BOJ steps in with 800bn yen of repo operations offered
- Coronavirus - Japan PM Abe says all arrivals from the US to quarantine for 14 days
- South Korea halts sell orders for program trading in KOSPI
- South Korea first 20 days of March export data +10% y/y
- More from Fed's Kashkari - Fed has infinite cash to support the financial system
- New Zealand confirmed coronavirus cases jump by 36
- Schumer says he believes disagreements over coronavirus bill can be overcome in the next 24 hours
- Oil prices much lower to begin the week - OPEC, US shale producers talks - no news over the weekend
- US Senate coronavirus bill fails to get enough votes
- Coronavirus - Japan media report Japan is to limit entry for travellers from the US
- ECB's De Guindos says the EU should consider Eurobonds for coronavirus.
- 3M COVID-19 response: 500,000 respirators on the way to New York and Seattle
- Coronavirus economic relief bill being considered by the US Congress: $3k payment for families, 4tln Fed $3,liquidity
- This is not FX but it might be helpful in keeping traders free of the coronavirus
- Coronavirus - McDonald's UK and Ireland to close by 1900GMT 23 March 2020
- International Olympic Committee exploring scenarios for Tokyo Games, including postponement
- Good morning Monday! Early FX price guide.
- RBNZ announces NZD30bn asset purchase program
Weekend:
- Where are we in the cycle of market emotions?
- A bit of good news for a change: Washington state bends the curve
- Avoid FX market relative fundamentals for now - MUFG
- Coronavirus - Singapore to ban short-term visitors & through transit. 2 Australian states to shut down.
- RBNZ Gov Orr says the Bank is ready to act further, has more firepower in reserve
- Coronavirus - German fin min Sholz flags emergency budget of more than EUR150b
- Coronavirus - White House Economic Advisor Kudlow says stimulus package under negotiation around 2tln USD
- Coronavirus driven sentiment case studies from last week
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kicked off the week with a QE operation, buying NZ government bonds to lower long end rates. NZD/USD traded lower in the very early hours on the back of the operation.
The US Senate had a 'procedural' vote on the US coronavirus relief bill on Sunday, late afternoon/early evening (US east coast time) that failed to pass. Once US futures opened for the week US equity index futures were slammed lower, hitting limit down (down 5%) within only minutes.
US President Trump held a press conference but had barely anything to say on negotiations of the stimulus package. US equity index futures held their limit down price, only coming back a little once the presser ended.
Meanwhile forex got underway with losses for currencies against the USD. The lift in volatility we have had for FX saw decent ranges for the currency drops. As the US evening progressed there were reports that discussions between US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Senate Democrat leader Schumer were continuing, adding hope to markets that a deal could be reached by Monday. Currencies recovered (rthe bounce varied by currency, of course), EUR on of the better recoveries while the yen gained all the way to circa 110.00 for USD/JPY. Regional equites managed to recover somewhat also.
In COVID-19 developments:
- Japan is to impose a 14 day self-quarantine on all arrivals from the US (on a side note speculation is gaining that the Tokyo Olympics will be postponed to next year).
- New Zealand raised its alert level and will raise it again within 48 hours to lock down status (only essential services to remain open), which will remain in place for at least 4 weeks.
The data agenda was sparse, what we did get was the first 20 days of March export data for South Korea, which was somewhat encouraging (see bullets above - also check out the coronavirus latest counts from SK, also encouraging). South Korea is expected to announce KRW27 tln of support measures on Tuesday.
Still to come:
- Coronavirus - G20 finance ministers and central bank governors emergency conference call scheduled for Monday
- Note for your Monday agenda - US Senate to vote at 1345GMT on US Coronavirus economic relief package
Regional equities as I post
- Nikkei: +1.68%
- Hang Seng: -3.71%
- Shanghai: -1.6%
- ASX: -4.77%
Economic fallout in the UK getting worse - thousands of jobs lost here:
