Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 15 April 2015

  • The Economist: The government of Shinzo Abe is increasingly at odds with the central bank
  • OECD says the Bank of Japan must maintain stimulus but with eye on risks
  • China Q1 GDP: 7.0%% y/y (vs. +7.0% expected) - plus the rest of the China data
  • Goldman Sachs says more aggressive loosening measures are needed in China
  • Australian employment data for March - early preview
  • More still from Fed's Kocherlakota: Low inflation a sign unemployment too high
  • RBNZ's Spencer: Action need to reduce housing imbalance
  • Australia - Westpac consumer confidence index for April: -3.2% m/m (prior was -1.2%)
  • More from Fed's Kocherlakota: Hard to see a bubble in asset prices
  • Fed's Kocherlakota: 'Inappropriate' to raise interest rates in 2015
  • Moodys: Australia's AAA rating supported by low government debt, economic flexibility
  • Australia - Macquarie says a "much more significant" currency depreciation may be needed
  • China Securities Journal: China has room to cut reserve ratio in Q2J
  • China data - new loans, aggregate financing
  • New Zealand - Food Price Index for March: +0.1% m/m ( prior was -0.7%)
  • Australian PM Abbott scraps promised company tax cut for big business
  • More on the IMF - "Calls on BOJ to crank up stimulus steps"
  • Overnight press: "China on Oil-Buying Spree Again"
  • UK Times: "Brussels vows to block Cameron on EU treaty"
  • Japan - Court sets higher bar for nuclear reactor safety
  • API crude oil inventories: +2.6 mln barrels

China GDP data was the focus today in Asia, with only minor movements in currencies ahead of the release (at 0200GMT).

The Q1 GDP came in bang on expectations at +7.0% y/y, but other data points from China on the session missed. And how.

  • Retail sales grew the slowest since February 2006
  • Fixed-asset investment hit a 15-year low
  • Industrial output - slowest growth since November of 2008

Currency moves were relatively subdued after the release, though. The AUD, a stalwart China proxy, had a volatile few minutes, but within a range of 0.7586 - 0.7634 (or thereabouts) before settling barely changed.

USD/JPY slowly gained throughout the session, topping around 119.70 and settling 10-odd points down from there (as of writing).

EUR, GBP, CHF all relatively quiet throughout.

Oil was quiet after the jump on the release of the API data late in the NY afternoon. Gold is a few dollars lower on the session, but not much in it.

Still to come: Heads up for NZD traders ... dairy auction tonight