Forex news for Asia trading on Thursday 2 December 2021
- Plenty of Federal Reserve speakers ahead for Thursday
- Omicron COVID-19 - Australian internal border tightening has begun
- US' Fauci says don't alter travel plans, hopes US can end Omicron travel restrictions soon
- Japan has cancelled its ban on Japanese returning to the country
- There are reports that Apple has told suppliers that demand for iPhones is softening
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 02 December 2021
- Heightened risk of faster policy normalisation from the Bank of Korea
- BOJ board member Suzuki optimistic on consumption and economy, nods to Omicron risks
- Analyst says to buy the Omicron dip in USD/JPY for 115.50 within weeks
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.3719 (vs. estimate at 6.3648)
- Kaisa (China property developer) to meet offshore bondholders over repayment options
- Australia housing finance data for October
- Australia October trade balance AUD +11.22bn ( vs. expected +11bn AUD)
- JP Morgan's Kolanovic sanguine view on the Omicron variant of COVID-19
- Fed's Mester says a quicker taper gives the Fed room to hike earlier if needed
- South Korea's y/y CPI is at its highest in a decade
- The UK has locked in another 114 million vaccine doses, securing its booster program into 2023
- BlackRock says if vaccines work as expected economic recovery will be delayed, not derailed
- The US public transit mask mandate will be extended to March 2022
- Japan is considering compressing the time between 2nd and booster vaccine shots
- The US is delaying its trade deal with the UK over Brexit concerns (Northern Ireland issue)
- Turkey's Erdogan has fired his Treasury and Finance minister
- New Zealand terms of trade for Q3 +0.7% q/q (expected +2%)
- ICYMI - China’s plan to end its dependency on Australian iron ore
- ICYMI - France says flights from South Africa can resume after Saturday (Dec. 4)
Every day so far this week has seen losses for the USD and a bid for 'risk' emerge during Asia morning trade. Today is no different. US equity index futures have ticked higher, ES is up by over half a percent as I post, admittedly small potatoes after the thrashing US stocks received into the local cash close on Wednesday.
Over in FX, the dollar is lower with EUR, GBP up notably as are AUD, CAD and NZD to a lesser extent. USD/JPY has inched higher which has given, of course, a tailwind to yen crosses here. USD/CHF, on the other hand, has lost (a little) ground.
[UPDATE (half an hour after publishing the wrap) ... there is a degree of a turnaround in the USD, its recovered much of its earlier losses.]
There was no news of a game-changing nature but there were slight easings of Omicron-related flight restrictions from France and Japan (see bullets above). An internal border in Australia has tightened a touch.
From the Federal Reserve we heard from Cleveland President Loretta Mester, who was quick to approve of potential quicker tapering and even said two hikes could be coming in the new year.
Not just in Soweto:
