Forex news for Asia trading for Wednesday 5 May 2021
- Coronavirus - Seychelles is the world’s most vaccinated nation - cases surging
- A third COVID-19 vaccine shot will be offered to people over 50 in the UK
- Boeing required to provide more information on electrical grounding issues in its 737 MAX - further delays expected
- Chipmaker TSMC may build more cip factories in Arizona
- Australia Building Approvals for March: +17.4% m/m (expected +3.0%)
- Singapore has reimposed tougher restrictions on gatherings and business activity
- US clear statement of support for Taiwan carries "significant downsides"
- New Zealand - ANZ Commodity Price index for April: +2.3% m/m (prior +6.1%)
- Japan is considering extending the state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas
- Singapore and Hong Kong PMIs for April remain in expansion
- Canada - new COVID-19 restrictions announced for Alberta province
- Berkshire Hathaway’s stock price is too high, NASDAQ temporarily suspended prices
- Fed's Kashkari says the Federal Reserve has powerful tools if inflation surprises higher
- RBNZ Dep Gov Bascand says there is a greater risk of a house price correction
- Australia April Markit PMIs, final: Services 58.8 (prior 55.5) & Composite 58.9 (prior also 55.5)
- NZD marked up following the strong jobs report
- NZ jobs report for Q1: Unemployment rate 4.7% (vs. 4.9% expected)
- Australia April construction PMI: 59.1 (vs. prior 61.8)
- CME says it will permanently close most open outcry trading pits
- Zell says inflation is reminiscent of the 1970s - buy gold
- ICYMI - Dallas Fed head Kaplan said yet again that a discussion of tapering should begin
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand FSR - financial system is sound, vulnerabilities remain
- More on "Yellen Says She Isn’t Predicting Higher Interest Rates"
- Trade ideas thread - Wednesday 5 May 2021
- Private oil survey data shows the biggest headline draw since January
- Yellen says she has regular meetings with Fed Chair Powell but believes strongly in Fed independence
- More from Yellen - says we don't have an adequate cryptocurrency regulatory framework
- US Treas Sec Yellen says she is not predicting or recommending Fed rate rises
New Zealand's Q1 labour market report was a solid one, with unemployment dropping more than was expected despite the rise in the number of people seeking work (the participation rate). Further NZ data published showed process for the countries commodity exports hit their highest ever. NZD/USD was marked higher on the jobs data and has managed to hold onto the gain as I post (after a brief partial retrace).
AUD/USD has been dragged up alongside. Data from Australia today showed another big rise for building approvals (concentrated in multi-unit building); this follows a strong rise the previous month also.
The two antipodean currencies also benefited from a weakening US dollar during the session, with EUR, GBP, yen all ticking higher against the big dollar.
Gold and BTC are both us also.
Oil gained further, it got a bit of a boost from the private survey oil data released in the US afternoon showing a big draw in inventory. Eyes will be on the official data due on Wednesday morning (US time)to confirm.
News flow of direct FX relevance was light during the session. Japanese and Chinese markets remained closed for holidays. Both return tomorrow, May 6.
NZD: