Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 29 April 2020
- Australian Q1 CPI recap (and look ahead for much lower in Q2)
- China state media says annual parliament to begin May 22
- Australian PM Morrison reiterates he wants a global coronavirus investigation
- Australia Q1 inflation - headline CPI : 0.3% q/q (vs. expected 0.2%)
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.0704 (vs. yesterday at 7.0710)
- FX option expiries for Wednesday April 29 at the 10am NY cut
- China factories restarted, but getting consumers spending is tougher
- Saudi Arabia's oil revenues fall 24% in Q1 2020
- 2 reasons Brexit trade negotiations between the EU & UK are bogged down
- More on the RBNZ moving to a negative cash rate
- North Korea has extended its COVID-19 national emergency to the end of the year
- South Korea March industrial output +4.6% m/m (expected -1.3%)
- BRC UK shop prices (April) -1.7%, y/y (prior -0.8%), largest fall since January 2017
- Company contracted to provide govt masks being sent to all in Japan is a one-man operation, no mask-making track record
- New Zealand trade balance for March: NZD 672m (vs. expected NZD 686m)
- 11 members of Congress are asking US Treasury to consider blockchain to help streamline distribution of funds
- Australian Treasurer Frydenberg says Australia will not bow to economic coercion
- Reports that President Trump plans to use the Defense Production Act to keep meat-processing plants open
- South Korean businesses confidence index has fallen to its worst ever
- ICYMI - North Korea accuses the US & South of fanning the "fever of war"
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 29 April 2020
- Italy's economy ministry comments on Fitch's downgrade of its debt
- Oil inventory survey shows a slightly smaller than expected build
The US dollar weakened across the board for the session here, and the kiwi $ got an extra boost from strong trade data in March. Oil traded higher, as did gold also.
EUR/USD dribbled a little lower early in the session in response to a rating downgrade for Italy from Fitch but it soon more than recovered in line with the weaker dollar. USD/JPY dropped under 106.60. There was little news out of Japan today with markets there in holiday for the day (they'll be absent further next week for more holidays). In fact, there was little news of impact from anywhere.
One minor focus for the FX market were the AUD CPI data (for Q1 - official inflation data from Australia is only published once a quarter) which showed the headline at its highest for nearly 6 years. However, looking ahead, the shut down of the economy from later in March is going to weigh on Q2 inflation, perhaps even tipping into deflation.
South Korea industrial production (March) came in strong also, but once again caution will be required in the months ahead. Business confidence in the country fell to its lowest ever.
