Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 3 May 2016

Stay tuned for the RBA, due at 0430GMT!

  • Australia hits the big time - gets a mention in the FT :-D
  • NZ Treasury's Monthly Economic Indicators (April 2016)
  • Goldman Sachs on the BOJ: Leaving policy unchanged a "fatal miscalculation"
  • IMF forecasts for Asia - Growth remains strong, expected to ease only modestly
  • AUD trading higher - RBA rumours swirling
  • What To Expect From RBA? - views From 8 Major Banks
  • Hedge fund ex-manager's powerful indicator, running at 100% wins
  • China Caixin manufacturing PMI (April): 49.4 (expected 49.8)
  • Australia - Building approvals for March: +3.7 % m/m (expected -2.0%)
  • PBOC sets USD/CNY mid-point today at 6.4565 (Friday's set 6.4589)
  • CNY strength? Think again. Set lower against its CFETS basket
  • USD/JPY - are we approaching the intervention zone?
  • Japan PM Abe to decide on sales tax hike after G7 summit (overnight news)
  • Yen flexing its muscles (Tokyo on holiday today - who needs 'em?)
  • Xinhua says China credit surge doesn't mean a restart of massive stimulus
  • Australian data - ANZ / Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence: 113.9 (prior 111.7)
  • The Fed like dots. The world's leading hedge fund is a huge fan of them too.
  • POLL time! List of banks expecting RBA cut today. But what does ForexLive say?
  • If you want something done, do it yourself - BOJ's new economic indicator
  • Fed's Williams: USTs are priced extraordinarily high
  • BoA / ML expects Federal Reserve to have hiked to 0.75% in 12 mths time
  • Trade ideas corner for Tuesday 3 May 2016
  • Attn oil traders - here's a new weekly report from the Fed (can't wait 'til it leaks!)
  • Traders prepare for the RBA decision. What levels are in play for the AUDUSD?

The focus for today was the RBA meeting ... and we're still waiting. The announcement comes at 0430GMT, stay tuned!

It was a holiday in Japan today, but someone still wants the yen, with USD/JPY dropping again, down toward 106.00 without quite getting there. Barrier option related bids ahead of the big figure are giving it a little support for now, but who knows for how long.

EUR, CHF and GBP all found a little strength against the USD, with broad-based US dollar weakness a theme. NZD/USD and AUD/USD were strong also, of course, as was gold (above 1296 at one stage today) and even oil gained a few cents.

There was little in the news and data to move markets - Aussie building approvals surprised to the topside, while the Chinese private manufacturing PMI (Markit/Caixin) was a touch on the soft side.

Regional equities:

  • Nikkei - Japan closed today, will reopen on Friday
  • Shanghai +1.60%
  • HK -1.18%
  • ASX +0.67% ANZ Bank reported poor results pre-market, but unlike yesterday when Westpac reported similar and got sold off, ANZ and the market were bought today.