USD/JPY followed through with further gains during the session here today, rising to near 133.90. As I post its come back from that area but is still higher on the session circa 133.30.

There were mixed results elsewhere across the majors. EUR/USD has gained a few points while AUD/USD is close to unchanged on the session after losing ground to lows under 0.6900 early and then rebounding. NZD/USD has lost points after the disappointing data on jobs (Q2 data was released today). The jobs data disappointment was offset by wage gains though, which will keep the RBNZ on the boil for further policy tightening to come (the next meeting is August 17).

USD/CAD rose early but has since retraced to be net a touch lower on the day (i.e. CAD a little stronger).

Geopolitics featured prominently, with US House Speaker Pelosi continuing her visit to Taiwan. There were further measures announced in China’s economic intimidation campaign against the nation, most notably a halt to natural sand exports to Taiwan. This will impact on semiconductor manufacture. There are alternative sources, of course, but it’s a hiccup nonetheless.

News of another crypto theft, this time in the order of at least USD5mn, crossed the news wires (see bullets above).

NZD on the disappointing jobs numbers:

nzd jobs report 03 August 2022