Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 29 August 2017
- Australia data coming up (Wednesday) - previews
- Australian data due tomorrow starts a big week
- Japan economy minister Motegi: Consumer spending in gradual recovery
- NY time option expiries for today
- PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.6293 (vs. yesterday at 6.6353)
- Early indicators for China's economy this month show steady but mixed results
- Japan stocks open down after North Korea missile overflight
- Barclays on ECB President Draghi's speech at Jackson Hole (and, look out ahead!)
- Australia - ANZ-Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence: 113.5 (prior 109.2)
- Japan data: Overall Household Spending (July) -0.2% y/y (expected 0.7%)
- Just past 8am in Tokyo - USD/JPY higher as liquidity returns
- Market update as the ramifications of the North Korean missile continue to sink in
- USD/JPY on session lows as yen buyers continue in wake of North Korean missile test
- US military says North Korea missile did not pose a threat to North America
- German fin min Schaeuble says debt cut for Greece not currently on agenda
- More on the North Korean missile launch
- Japan govt warns North Korea missile headed toward northern Japan
- Australian data due today - what's driving down consumer confidence
- Trade ideas thread - Tuesday 29 August 2017
A busy session for Asia, but front-weighted into the early hours and quiet thereafter.
A little after the US shut up shop for the day news hit that North Korea had launched a missile test. This one, though, did not induce yawns in the market. The ballistic missile crossed into and then over Japanese airspace, landing in the Pacific Ocean east of Hokkaido (northern Japan). An emergency alert was issued by the Japanese government for affected residents to take cover.
- Japan govt warns North Korea missile headed toward northern Japan
- More on the North Korean missile launch
- US military says North Korea missile did not pose a threat to North America
- USD/JPY on session lows as yen buyers continue in wake of North Korean missile test
- Just past 8am in Tokyo - USD/JPY higher as liquidity returns
North Korean missile test have become a little commonplace and the market has largely shrugged off recent ones, but this time with the path flying over Japan, it was a clear NK escalation, we sat up and took notice.
USD/JPY was marked down, to under 109. After some chop around the figure the down move extended toward 108.80 and a little while later to under 108.50 (taking out stop losses clustered under there). A final low was established just below 108.35 before some sideways and then a move back up for a partial retrace. As forex markets in Japan became more active and liquidity improved USD/JPY moved back to above 108.85 and has since stalled, straddling 108.80 more or less.
The arrow is the news hitting
'Risk off' was seen impacting AUD especially, it traded down from above 0.7960 to under 0.7910 at its nadir, its since also had a partial retrace, toward 0.7940 and is now just under 0.7930 as I update.
NZD traded down also, lows circa 0.7220 then back above 0.7250 and is near its session lows as I update.
Yen crosses, as you can imagine, fell on the session, AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY the worst hit.
The CHF was also a beneficiary of the 'risk off' move, USD/CHF falling to around 0.9500 and then a retrace to above 0.9530.
EUR/USD has not been as active, a small fall to under 1.1960 at one stage was about it. Cable - off toward 1.2920 before recovering pretty much all of its small slide.
Gold broke above 1300USD in the US timezone. This was a much-watched level and there was a few dollars of follow through, but the upmove accelerated on the missile news, the rock as high as circa USD1325 and is now just above 1316 as I update.
Oil seemed unfazed - its barely moved. USD/CAD popped 1.2530 briefly and has since given back to be under 1.2510 as I update.
We did get some Japanese data today (see bullets above). The People's Bank of China strengthened the CNY against the USD agai today at the reference rate setting (ditto on the bullets, above)
Regional equities were heavy in the wake of the test: Japan stocks open down after North Korea missile overflight
- Nikkei -0.56%
- Shanghai +0.06%
- HK -0.39%
- ASX -0.95%
Still to come:
- The UK is back after a holiday Monday
