Forex news for Asia trading Friday 14 August 2015
Monday
Japan Q2 GDP
- Japan - "There was nothing good in today's GDP data"
- Comments from Japan economy minister Amari in the wake of weak GDP data
- Japan GDP contracts at -1.6% pace (annualized) ... quick analyst responses
- Japan preliminary Q2 GDP: -0.4% q/q (-0.5% expected) economic data result
- NAB lowers its AUD/USD forecast, says Fed hike not adequately priced
- Gold - Why is legendary hedge fund manager Stanley Druckenmiller buying?
- Westpac chief economist says he is surprised by market still expecting RBA cuts
- People's Bank of China (PBOC) sets yuan reference rate at 6.3969
- Stanley Druckenmiller bought a big new stake in gold ETF
- PBOC chief economist says more likely now there will be "2 way volatility" in yuan
- Weekend gold news - 'China reveals increase in gold holdings'
- UK data - Rightmove House Price for August: -0.8% m/m (prior +0.1%)
- Head of TD Bank warns of impact of oil fall on Canada's economy
- New Zealand - Performance of Services for July, 56.5 (prior was 58.1)
- Has Morgan Stanley's 'Fragile Five' economies now become the 'Troubled Ten'?
- Trade ideas thread to start us off for the week - Monday 17 August 2015
- Iran's OPEC representative says OPEC could boost oil production to its most ever
- BOE's Forbes comments on UK interest rates, need hike 'well before' inflation hits target
- German Chancellor Merkel says she expect IMF will take part in new Greek bailout
- Monday morning Forex prices, early indications 17 August 2015
Weekend
- The PBOC could intervene in both directions on the yuan
- Despite the recent decline, the IMF says the Chinese yuan is not undervalued
- 'No-flation' in the UK reduces the likelihood of a BoE rate hike
- Nomura says if the Fed hikes in September, it'll be the most dovish hike ever
- EUR - Greece weekend news - Germany to vote on package Wednesday
- Oil - Iran hands over nuclear info - potential milestone in sanctions relief conditions
- US plans to cut funding for jobs market statistics
- What's on the economic calendar this week
- Germany's Schaeuble says there's room to extend maturities on Greek debt
- Goldman Sachs EUR/USD technical analysis - 'looks set for a broader correction'
- Its never too early in the week to have a bit of fun! .... Check out this old school forex video
It was a quiet start to the week on Monday in Asia.
EUR/USD has lost a few points, Cable is more or less flat on the session, while USD/CHF gained a few points. A few Greece headlines over the weekend had only limited impact once the market opened and we await Europe and UK trade for impetus.
The two items of most interest in the Asian time zone today were the Q2 Japanese GDP data and the PBOC yuan reference rate setting.
Japanese GDP (Q2, preliminary) came in weak, with notable softness in consumer spending and exports. The data triggered talk of both the potential for further BOJ stimulus and a government supplementary budget ... both of which seem unlikely in the short term, but if Q3 data does not show improvement ... look out! The yen duly weakened, but there was very little in it, USD/JPY is around 15 points higher than earlier session lows as I update, while EUR/JPY is marginally weaker given the EUR/USD coming off.
The USD/CNY rate set from the People's Bank of China was little changed from Friday's mid-point setting. It appears the rate setting may well slip back into a much, much less volatile period as the PBOC assesses the impact of last week's devaluations. We'll see about that ....
NZD/USD is more or less flat on the day. AUD/USD, though, has managed to add on a few points after an earlier slip to 0.7365. Again, not a lot in it, it traded as high as just over 0.7380 before its settled now just under there.
Gold gained a few dollars, oil slipped a little further lower.
Equities across the region are slightly up in Japan and Australia (Nikkei +0.4%, ASX +0.3%) while in China the Shanghai Composite is down around 0.8%, Shenzen lower by around 0.6%, and HK's Hang Seng lower by 1%..
