- New Zealand Q4 CPI -0.2% Q/Q (vs. +0.1% expected)
- Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, Finance Minister Taro Aso and economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari met today to discuss Government/BOJ relations, drafting a joint statement etc.
- There were multiple statements from Aso and Amari, none of which had much impact
- However, in the afternoon, Koichi Hamada, key economic adviser to Abe was reported on Bloomberg as saying that USD/JPY at 100 is good for Japan’s economy sent USD/JPY above its NY high at 90.14 to a high of 90.21
- China Q4 GDP came in slightly above expectations at +7.9% Y/Y (vs. +7.8% expected)
- China December Industrial Production also a little better +10.3% Y/Y (vs. +10.2 expected)
- China December Retail Sales +15.2% Y/Y (vs. +15.1% expected)
- Final November Japan Industrial Production -1.4% M/M (+1.7% prior)
- Final Japan Capacity Utilization -0.2%M/M (prior was 1.6%)
- U.S. Auto Lobby Urges Obama to Study Measures against Weak Yen
The NZD/USD was the early mover, losing more than half a cent on the lower than expected CPI. It recovered a little, putting in a 50% retracement of the gap down before tumbling again in the afternoon to new lows at 0.8340.
AUD/USD waited half the day for the GDP figures out of China, everyone expecting a good result given the recent upward revisions after the blow-out trade figures from last week. It seems as well as expecting a good result there were quite a few positioned for it. The AUD jumped from 1.0530 to 1.0555 and fell back to 30 just as quickly … the market having set itself long. There was then very little wait as it dipped to a new low on the day, getting down towards yesterdays lows where bids emerged again to hold it. As I write it is not bouncing …
USD/JPY had a quiet day until after the Tokyo lunch period, when Hamada’s comments saw it break above the NY high at 90.14, but only as high as 90.21. As I write its consolidating around 90.05/10.
EUR/CHF moved strongly higher on the day
