Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 23rd February 2016

  • Australia approves sale of country’s largest dairy to a Chinese buyer
  • Authorities mulling getting rid of €500 and $100 notes. Here's what to do about that
  • The US States already in recession (complete list)
  • Japan official: Will continue to carefully monitor currencies
  • Opening indications for Chinese stockmarkets: Shanghai Comp to open -0.1%
  • BOJ's Kuroda comments as yen firms in Asian trade
  • PBOC open market operations today: Injects 130bn yuan
  • PBOC sets USD/CNY central rate at 6.5273
  • Deutsche Bank warn yen strength may become a self-fulfilling cycle
  • Japan data - December cash earning revised lower
  • Japan econ min Ishihara: Not engaged in competitive currency devaluation
  • Bloomberg: "Hedge Funds Turn Bullish on the Aussie"
  • Here is a picture of Jamie Dimon's bottom
  • Australian data - ANZ / Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 114.3 (prior 113.6)
  • More commentary from BHP - worse outlook on commodities
  • Goldman Sachs on the when & what to expect from the next ECB easing
  • G20 meeting coming up - likely to reiterate previous currency policy commitments
  • BHP comments on global economy
  • Trade ideas thread for Tuesday 23 February 2016

A big yen move in Asia today, USD/JPY dropping around a big figure from its circa-113 highs before any decent bounce. Yen crosses were heavy alongside the USD/JPY fall. The Nikkei held in there for a little while but succumbed and is lower on the session as I update.

AUD/USD held below the 0.7240/50 level through the session without dropping away too much (off about 25-odd points at one stage), while NZD/USD pulled back a little more from its overnight high, straddling 0.67 for much of the session.

EUR and CHF gained a few points against the USD, while Cable fell back from 1.4150 towards the figure without hitting there.

Gold put in a solid session, back to 1222.50 at one stage and is just below there as I update. Oil gave back some of its overnight gain.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kuroda was in parliament again today, alongside deputy governor Iwata. Kuroda seemingly dialled back his faith in his hugely expanded monetary base, saying that it alone will not 'pull up' inflation or inflation expectations quickly. There was plenty of 'risk off' explanations for the yen move today, and they may indeed be correct, but Kuroda's (mildly) wavering performance may have impacted on the yen move also. Concerns are mounting, too, that the yen strength may become self-reinforcing (see bullets, above).

Regional equities:

  • Nikkei -0.12%
  • Shanghai -1.26%
  • HK -0.54%
  • ASX -0.45%

ICYMI:

  • ForexLive Americas FX news wrap: Cable crawls off the lows