- China is advising travellers to cut longer-haul trips over the approaching New Year holidays
- More on the North Korean missile launch - a test-firing of a "hypersonic" missile
- BOJ offers large cash injection after long-term interest rates hit a two-month high
- A forecast for EUR/GBP lower in H1 of 2022
- China's Xian Xianyang International Airport suspends all international passenger flights
- China - Caixin Markit Services PMI for December 53.1 (expected was 51.7)
- Bitcoin not doing a real lot during the Asia timezone
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 6.3728 (vs. estimate at 6.3702)
- Mainland China reports 132 local-transmitted cases on January 5 (vs 41 the previous day)
- Australia's second-most populous state to reintroduce density caps for hospitality businesses
- UK new car sales in 2021 were down nearly 30% on pre-pandemic levels
- Japan Jibun Services 52.1 and Composite 52.5 PMIs for December
- ICYMI - Citi sees S&P 500 above 5,000 by year-end 2022
- USD/JPY forecast to 118 "may look conservative"
- Goldman Sachs says Fed balance sheet runoff could start soon. JPM say in September.
- ICYMI - ECB's Kazaks says Bank will act if inflation outlook picks up
- Japan press on the Bank of Japan "stealth taper"
- Australia – Markit Services 55.1 and Composite 54.9 PMI for (final) December
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 06 January 2022
- Italy to make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory for over 50s
- US major indices close at session lows
A small risk off tone pervaded across Asia today following the hawkish tilt evident in the Federal Open Market Committee minutes released Wednesday US time:
Regional equities here followed the lead of lower US stocks and lost ground on the session so far.
Across FX AUD, NZD were the notable losers (albeit all major FX ranges were not large) and yen managed to gain; USD/JPY dropped from above 116.10 to visit briefly under 115.90.
Data flow was from lesser-tier releases. News flow was light but was characterised by concerns on coronavirus getting a little more widespread:
- the number of flights has been curtailed at airports in Xi’an (mainland China), Macau and Hong Kong
- coronavirus restrictions have tightened a touch in Australia
- coronavirus-related restrictions were tightened on US bases in Japan
(see bullets above for more on these)
Bitcoin volatility dropped in the session here:
