Forex news for Asia trading for Friday 5 March 2021
- BOJ Gov Kuroda says does not think its necessary to widen the band around long-term yield
- The US and UK are considering additional sanctions against Russia - perhaps even its sovereign debt
- This just a dip, NZD/USD forecast to rise to 0.7500
- BOJ Governor Kuroda says that higher yields would reduce the impact of monetary easing
- Australian PM to speak - to address Italian PM Draghi's ban on vaccine shipment to Australia?
- NZD - the RBNZ has raised its bond purchase weekly target
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.4904 (vs. yesterday at 6.4758)
- Westpac still like the New Zealand dollar
- Newswires reporting China has set its 2021 GDP growth target at over 6%
- Bitcoin slides under $47K
- More from BOJ's Kuroda - Bank likely to debate a 'band' for its 10-year JGB target
- BOJ Kuroda says Japan's economy is picking up, as a trend
- Japan finance minister Aso says he has no comment when asked about the yen's fall
- Everyone ready for the next OPEC+ meeting (on April Fools day)?
- FOMC meeting March 16-17 (which means we'll be, nearly, free of Fed talking heads until then)
- NFP due 5 March 2021 - Goldman Sachs nonfarm payrolls preview (+225k & 6.3%)
- Noted crypto bull Novogratz on why gold is headed lower and bitcoin higher ('every bank moving in')
- OPEC+ agreed to keep output steady through April. US shale recovery is still a divisive topic.
- Coronavirus - Japan's government recommends a 2 week extension of the Tokyo state of emergency
- Trade ideas thread - Friday 5 March 2021
- New Zealand Building work done for Q4 2020 -1.5% q/q (expected +3.0% q/q, prior +34.6%)
- Australia - AiG Services PMI for February: 55.8 (prior 54.3)
It was a lower start for currencies against a Powell-bid USD and that carried on somewhat into Asia time, although in much, much smaller ranges. AUD/USD dipped under 0.7700 (its just above as I update) while NZD is also down. EUR/USD slipped a little further but is holding steady above bids circa 1.1750. USD/JPY budged 108.00 early in the morning and has tracked mainly sideways since, as has USD/CHF. Oil prices have steadied somewhat, which has seen USD/CAD dip from its early highs.
Regional stock markets here also carried through lower from the US lead with Japan, South Korea, Australia and China stocks all falling more than 1%. China has shown a bounce though, indexes SSE Composite and ChiNext index both turned higher while the CSI 300 index recovered a lot of its loss but is still lower on the session so far. Hong Kong's Hang Send has bounced from its lowe also but is more than 0.5% down still.
