Forex news for Asia trading Thursday 2 April 2015

  • JP Morgan warns Australia's AAA at risk - broken promise of surplus from government
  • Survey shows 16 of 26 economists expect RBA on hold in April
  • WSJ: China to allow social-security fund to buy local-government bonds
  • UBS says more monetary easing coming from China - data weak
  • Australia data - Feb-Nov job vacancies +1.1% q/q (prior +2.6%)
  • Australia - Trade balance for February: - 1.256bn (vs. expected -1300m)
  • New Zealand data - ANZ commodity prices for March: +4.6% (prior was +4.2, revised from +1.8%)
  • Japan - Tankan survey of corporate price expectations, CPI expected +1.4% a year from now
  • Japan Buying Foreign Bonds, Y 1017.2B (plus, the rest of this data)
  • Japan - Monetary Base for March: +35.2% y/y (prior was +36.7%)
  • Australia - March TD Securities/MI Inflation Gauge: +0.4% m/m ( prior was 0.0%)
  • Is the market underestimating the risk of further BOJ easing this year?
  • Goldman Sachs says Europe is in a 'sweet spot' for growth. US, errr, not so much
  • Iran nuclear talks - Fabius: "few metres from finishing line ... last are most difficult"
  • Bloomberg: ECB Said to Raise ELA Limit for Greek Banks by 700 Million EurosOn
  • Japan press ... "companies remain apprehensive"
  • UK election - latest poll, it's the Cons by a nose
  • McDonald's serves up fresh evidence of rising wage pressure in the American labor market
  • NZD traders - ASB says Fonterra will lower milk payout
  • More overnight Japan press: Post Bank to boost investment in foreign bonds, stocks by 30%
  • Japan press: Nippon Steel to reduce April-June steel production

The Australian dollar remained under pressure today, with AUD/USD dropping around 40 points from it earlier high. Press carried reports of an analyst saying the triple A rating could come under pressure, which didn't help its cause. As I update the AUD/USD is very near session lows - stop loss sellers below 0.7550.

NZD/USD was heavy earlier on, but managed to bounce 30 or so points, AUD/NZD a contributor to the NZD/USD stabilisation.

EUR, GBP and CHF had minor-range wiggles, not too much in it at all.

USD/JPY was somewhat the same, confined in a 20-odd point session range (as of writing).

Oh dear ... I'm just seeing a tweet referring to 'parity humiliation looms for the Aussie' .... Quite. So, I'll be off. If you're having a break over Easter, be safe and enjoy!