Forex news for Asia-Pacific trading on June 8, 2016:

  • RBNZ official cash rate left unchanged at 2.25%
  • RBNZ's Wheeler: We were confident in our decision
  • Full text of the RBNZ decision June 9, 2016
  • More from RBNZ Governor Wheeler (and McDermott)
  • Nakaso: BOJ will take additional steps if needed to hit price goal
  • China May consumer price index +2.0% vs +2.2% y/y expected
  • Japan April machine orders plunge
  • UK RICS survey points to first housing price fall since Nov 2012
  • Elizabeth Warren to endorse Hillary Clinton imminently, won't rule out VP run
  • Tokyo May average office vacancies 4.05 vs 4.23 prior
  • Osborne says Turkey won't join EU 'in my liftetime'

Markets:

  • Nikkei down 1.05% to 16654
  • WTI crude up 32-cents to $51.55
  • Gold up 64-cents to $1263
  • NZD leads, AUD lags so far

The RBNZ decision was the focus and it delivered some volatility as the RBNZ delivered very little at all. The OCR was left unchanged. That was mostly expected but not entirely and NZD jumped a cent on the headlines as it broke out to a one-year high. The statement was mostly a repeat but cut down on the jawboning and was more upbeat on the global outlook.

The initial NZD/USD rally was to 0.7115 but it pared back 45 pips of gains after the statement. However when Wheeler appeared later he was upbeat and said the slack was on pace to be eliminated. He didn't sound like someone in a hurry to cut and NZD went to fresh highs at 0.7139.

The Australian dollar rallied in sympathy at first but after touching 0.7500 it faded back to 0.7466 and lower on the day. Some of that is AUD/NZD selling but overall it's a strange move given the backdrop.

EUR/USD rose to the highest since May 12 as it edged above yesterday's high and to 1.1416. There is some technical resistance nearby with the 61.8% retracement of the May slump matching the high. Some selling has hit in the past few minutes and the pair is down to 1.1403.

A new Brexit poll showed a dead heat but also gave some reasons why undecided voters will swing to the 'remain' side. Cable touched a two day low at 1.4493 but has crawled back to unchanged on the day at 1.4504 as London begins to wake up.

The yen has held a solid bid, partly because Nakaso touched on the lagged effects of monetary policy, which is a sign they may be reluctant to act at the upcoming meeting. Data, however, showed a huge slump in machine orders. So far USD/JPY bids at 106.50 are holding but the post non-farm payrolls lows are now within striking distance.

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