Forex news for Asia trading for Thursday 8 April 2021
- New Zealand is suspending entry to the country from India
- Next week (April 14) will bring the next RBNZ monetary policy review
- Reports again that Japan is considering tighter COVID-19 restrictions for Tokyo, other areas
- Short video - Analyst discusses the outlook for EM assets, the USD & Chinese yuan.
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.5463 (vs. yesterday at 6.5384)
- New Zealand April (preliminary) Business Confidence -8.4 (prior -4.1) & Activity Outlook 16.4 (prior 16.6)
- Federal Reserve Chair Powell is speaking on Thursday 08 April 2021
- Japan funds sold the most Australian government bonds ever in February
- Australian PM Morrison says has no advice to change to AstraZeneca vaccine rollout
- Australia's trade minister says Australia will protect its national interest
- Japan Balance of Payment Current Account for February Y 2916.9bn (vs. expected Y 2000bn)
- Here's what it'll take to lift AUD/USD back to 0.83
- UK data - RICS House Price Balance for March 59% (expected 55%, prior 54%)
- Japanese regulators will check risk management practices at financial institutions following Archegos blow up
- Japan media with reports tighter coronavirus restrictions are once again being considered
- Shell (world’s biggest fuel retailer) indicator suggests fuel demand recovery has remained slow
- New Zealand data today is expected to show strong inflationary pressure
- The US is likely to announce further retaliation Against Russia soon
- US President Biden considering doubling Obama's climate promise
- People's Bank of China wary of rising household debt - could damage economic recovery
- More on the pair of private equity firms preparing a $15bn bid for Dutch firm KPN
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 08 April 2021
- Private equity firms teaming up on a USD15bn bid for KPN
- US Senator McConnell says may be a way forward on infrastructure bill that does not change 2017 tax cuts
It was another lacklustre day for the major forex pairs with a small net drop for yen crosses the result of a lower USD/JPY and a mixed performance for currencies against the USD otherwise. Cable has managed to add a tiny few points, while CAD is a touch softer. AUD/USD and NZD/USD are barely changed on the session, as is EUR/USD.
News flow was very light with nothing much of impact. Japanese media did report new restrictions are being considered once again for Tokyo (and some other areas) which was cited for some weakness in Japanese stock indexes. Data flow, too, was non-impactful, New Zealand's flash business survey showed softer (again) business confidence.
Regional equities:
Japan's Nikkei -0.4%, Topix -0.8%
China's Shanghai Composite -0.1%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.7%
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 +0.99%
Fed Chair Powel is speaking later Thursday (see bullets above)
