Forex news for Asia trading Thursday 19 October 2017
- China SAFE head: FX rate will be more flexible
- PBOC's Zhou says yuan trading band expansion is not a current focus
- China's September steel output falls from record
- China Stats bureaus says property risks have effectively been resolved
- BoK raise South Korea GDP forecast
- China September Industrial Production 6.6% y/y (expected 6.5%) + more data
- Q3 GDP: 6.8% y/y (expected +6.8% y/y)
- China Q3 GDP leak: 6.8% y/y
- More responses to the strong Australian jobs report coming through
- USD/CAD: Sitting at a good risk / reward to sell ahead of BoC next week - TD
- RBA's Bullock speaking - nothing reported
- Responses to Australian jobs report coming through
- PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.6093 (vs. yesterday at 6.5991)
- National Australia Bank Business Survey for Q3: Confidence 7 (prior 8)
- Australia September Employment Change: +19.8K (expected 15.0K)
- North Korea warns U.S. could face 'unimaginable' strike
- Comments from BOJ's Nakaso hitting news wires
- Japan - September trade balance Y 670.2bn (expected Y 556.8bn)
- NZ's English says unclear if NZ First will back Nationals to form government
- Morgan Stanley has a new top trade: Call it the Not-So-Big Short
- SG FX on the 30th anniversary of Black Monday ... more to come for the market soufflé
- Poll: Which side will form government in New Zealand? Peters decision due today
- Heads up for NZD traders - we should have a government in NZ by the end of the day
- ANZ's "5 reasons we like buying AUD in dips"
- Brexit - More on UK PM May urged to walk out of talks
- Brexit - UK press front page: May urged to walk out if EU won't talk trade
- More on: Nafta negotiators working on a side deal for the pledge to avoid devaluing
- China Q3 GDP and September data (IP, retail etc.) due today - previews
- More on the Mexican government peso comments
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 19 October 2017
- Australia jobs report due today- coming up at 0030 GMT - preview
- Mexico fin min says he isn't worried about the exchange rate - orderly
- Economic data due from Asia today - China Q3 GDP
The big focus in Asia today was on Chinese data
- Q3 GDP
- And September activity data
Add to that list
- the Australian jobs report for AUD traders,
- and more waiting on an announcement from NZ for the NZD traders
We got some data from Japan to kick off the session. As usual, Japanese data had very little impact, but we did get a minor (very minor) sell off in USD/JPY perhaps in response to reports out of North Korea warning the US could face 'unimaginable' strike.
The impact on markets of missile tests and nuclear bomb tests from NK seem to be diminishing, ... the impact of these belligerent comments was also only small.
USD/JPY topped just under 113.10 and the bottom of the session range was just under 112.90, so yeah, minor moves only. Also of note for yen traders were comments from BOJ Dep Gov Nakaso who spoke in New York Wednesday, with text released by the Bank of Japan during the Asian session today (see bullets above for details on North Korea developments, Nakaso comments and Japanese data).
The Australian labour market report was another strong one, following on from previous strong ones. The Australian dollar was marked higher on the data release, a 30-odd point jump to circa 0.7870 which topped it for the session against the USD.
China data followed soon thereafter, hitting a little before scheduled time:
- China Q3 GDP leak: 6.8% y/y
- Q3 GDP: 6.8% y/y (expected +6.8% y/y)
- China September Industrial Production 6.6% y/y (expected 6.5%) + more data
The AUD/USD did not sustain its gains after the China data, its back around 0.7850 as I update, just above its earlier session lows. A small range only on the day.
NZD/USD was also a minor mover, trading higher toward 0.7170 and is now lower, circa 0.7125 as I post and still awaiting news on government formation, which should be along any time from now. Incumbent PM English said he was not clear on whether NZ First would be supporting the Nationals, which weighed a little on the kiwi.
EUR/USD popped above 1.1810 and is around 1.1800 as i post, up from lows under 1.1790 earlier. USD/CHF is barely changed; cable is up a few tics as is USD/CAD.
Gold fell a few dollars on the session but small only.