- Tankan: Business sentiment falls, outlook cautious
- HSBC flash China PMI 49.0 in November, up from 47.7 in October
- ECB’s Noyer: French downgrade would be unjustified
- Market anticipates a French downgrade very soon, possibly late Thursday in NY
- Risk events later today headlined by the SNB
- Spanish bond auctions also scheduled
- Regional stockmarkets -1.3% on average
- Gold steady after big fall overnight, currently $1575/oz; Oil $95.75/bbl
Neither the Tankan nor the HSBC flash PMI managed to drag the Asian FX market out of its torpor, with EUR/USD only managing a 20 pip range for the last 8 hours.
USD/JPY is being influenced by conflicting forces; on one hand is the strong USD-bullish sentiment but opposing this is the risk-aversion plays in the JPY crosses as well as heavy corporate offers every 25 pips until 80.00; hence the stalemate. Range: 77.96/78.14
AUD/USD did manage a 40 pip range but it didn’t feel that way, with most of the session spent at .9890/95. Sentiment remains bearish but after a 3% fall already this week, bids are starting to appear in reasonable size. Range: .9877/.9916
EUR/USD had one of its quietest sessions of the year, trading inside a 20 pip range 1.2977/97. Asia had no reason to trade ahead of the SNB and the Spanish bond auctions.
EUR/CHF edged higher with the market anticipating that the SNB will raise the EUR/CHF base to 1.2500 later tonight. Sell orders noted in the cross 1.2425/50.
Cable range 1.5435/74.
