Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 8 January 2019
- SIKA to buy Parex
- More on movements at the Federal Reserve (actually lack of movements)
- More on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visit to China
- Coinbase paused movements of funds on blockchain to protect traders
- Japan's finmin Aso says there is no change to the plan for sales tax hike (unless …)
- White House confirms Nellie Liang withdraws from Federal Reserve nomination
- Yen crosses falling post Tokyo-fix
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.8402 (yesterday's was 6.8517)
- Head of UBS in China says is cautiously optimistic a US and China trade deal will be done
- Australia November trade balance: surplus of AUD 1.925bn (expected +2.175bn AUD)
- Australia - ANZ Job advertisements for December: 0.0 % m/m (prior -0.3% m/m)
- White House Hassett says there will be some adverse economic impact from shut down
- China Stats Bureau head says 6.5% growth target achievable
- White House issues statements - Trump spoke with India about reducing US trade deficit
- Australia data - ANZ consumer confidence for the week: 115.2 (prior 117.8)
- UK PM May - Always said Brexit on March 29 and we would not extend the date
- EUR/USD and USD/JPY trade recommendations (short US dollar against both)
- Brexit - UK press report EU, UK officials discussing extending exit date
- Trade ideas thread - Tuesday 8 January 2019
There were decent gyrations in the forex today (for an Asia session) with the USD a net winner. News and data flow were light.
USD/JPY fell just following the Tokyo fix (circa 108.75/80), hitting lows just above 108.50. The drop coincided with the news of Nellie Liang withdrawing her application to join the Fed Board. Yen crosses were lower alongside, especially EUR/JPY as EUR/USD dropped away a little also.
The EUR/USD fall extended further, to be down 50+ points on the session at its lows (we are not too far from the lows as I update). The extended fall in EUR/USD spread to USD strength elsewhere, USD/JPY notably turning around and trading toward (but not through) 109, much of the buying being attributed to shorts forced to cover above the earlier highs. Accompanying USD/JPY higher was the Nikkei:
AUD and NZD dropped back also, although not to the same extent as EUR. During the session we got data from Australia, job ads and the November trade balance. Job ads had been falling m/m at the end of 2018 but today's data was a flat result. Better and indicative of continued job growth being likely. The trade balance was a surplus but not as big as expected.
Cable is lower as the USD strengthened. We had a few of the usual Brexit headlines. Today's was speculation that exit will be delayed. Countered by the UK PM May saying no it won't be.
USD/CHF gained, to above 0.9825 at one stage. CAD was relatively resilient. USD/CAD saw highs just over 1.33 and then lows circa 1.3270.
Still to come:
