Forex news for Asia trading Wednesday 18 October 2017
- More from China's President Xi - will keep cutting overcapacity
- China's President Xi says will let the market play a decisive role in resource allocation
- Westpac on their leading index - points to below trend momentum
- BOJ's Sakurai: 2% inflation target can also help stabilise yen FX rate
- Its Fed Beige Book day - here is a preview
- PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.5991 (vs. yesterday at 6.5883)
- FX options expiry for the New York cut at 10am, Wednesday 18 October 2017
- China's SAFE says yuan FX rate to have more stable foundation after party congress
- Federal Reserve's Harker says he sees 3 rate hikes in 2018
- If you are awaiting the UK jobs report, good news - plenty of time to read this preview!
- There is an RBA monetary policy discussion paper coming out today
- Fitch Ratings says China, QE and housing are key Australian investor concerns
- China press says yuan is unlikely to depreciate sharply
- Australia - Westpac Leading Index for September: +0.08 % m/m (prior -0.08%)
- Reuters Corporate Survey looks at the Japanese election coming Sunday
- Crippled by sanctions, North Korea may not last a year, defector says
- GBP/USD - Lloyds are seeing "more two-way price action", bias is for lower
- Barclays on the UK inflation data & implications for near-term monetary policy outlook
- Barclays on China (data, PBOC outlook, Congress etc.)
- BoA/ML on what they expect on FX flows from overseas profit repatriation
- US politics - Spicer / Mueller interview on Monday
- HSBC - still expect an RBA rate hike in Q1 of 2018
- BlackRock sees slowing China growth in 2018 - "still-solid and more sustainable"
- US Treasury says no major trading partner a currency manipulation in H1 2017
- Asia markets today - guess who has a mid-week holiday! (spoiler - Singapore)
- Trade ideas thread - Humpday 18 October 2017
- Canada foreign minister on NAFTA - hope for the best, plan for the worst
- OIL - private inventory data shows bigger than expected draw in US crude inventory
- US trade rep Lighthizer comments on NAFTA - no hard deadline
Very minor wiggles for a few currencies today only with a stable day nearly across the board:
- EUR/USD ticked up a few points
- USD/JPY was basically stable
- AUD/USD a few points higher (commodities in China traded a little stronger)
- Cable is barely changed, as is USD/CHF
- USD/CAD is a little lower, the news out of NAFTA talks is not too encouraging for Canada nor Mexico.
- NZD/USD is a few points lower - still no announcement on government formation
Yuan, however, was a mover. As the National Party Congress got underway (President Xi gave a long opening address) CNY and CNH traded higher:
USD/CNH
Data and news flow was extremely light. A subdued leading index from Australia and a speech from BOJ board member Sakurai the highlights (see bullets above).
Still to come today, some biggies: