Risk appetite was sell supported during the Asia session after Chinese economic data was more or less inline with Bloomberg consensus expectations but, crucially, was more benign than the market had feared going into the numbers. The Bank of Japan kept the policy rate range unchanged at 0-0.1% and changed neither the size of its monthly JGB intake, nor the size of its asset purchase facility. EURUSD traded 1.4346-1.4445, USDJPY 80.09-80.37. Continue reading →

It was a relatively quiet Asia session with Australia on holiday. This allowed the euro to stabilise after Friday’s heavy fall. But the euro is clearly not out of the woods yet. Even if fresh cash for Greece is forthcoming concern is running high over how ratings agencies will respond to any private sector involvement. Whether the ECB may be forced to exclude Greek bonds as eligible collateral is another unknown. Finally there is continued anxiety over whether a credit event might be triggered accidentally. EURUSD traded 1.4300-1.4358 and USDJPY 80.19-80.69. Continue reading →

The euro eventually came under pressure towards the end of the Asia session. But traffic was not all one-way – earlier, an unexpected rate hike from the Bank of Korea along with better-than-expected import data from China briefly kept risk appetite supported. EURUSD traded 1.4484-1.4551 and USDJPY 80.03-80.47. Continue reading →

The dollar gave back some of yesterday’s gains against the euro, but losses were most pronounced against the New Zealand dollar. Although the RBNZ kept policy unchanged, the policy statement contained a reference to future rate hikes, which propelled NZDUSD about 80 pips higher. EURUSD traded 1.4564-1.4632, USDJPY 79.79-80.30. Continue reading →

Risk appetite was generally subdued during the Asia session, after an article speculated on the likelihood of a hard landing for the Chinese economy. USDJPY broke below 80.00 again to hit a one-month low. EURUSD traded 1.4644-1.4697, USDJPY 79.75-80.28. Continue reading →

The dollar gave back some of yesterday’s gains against the euro during the Asia session, after several hours passed without any further euro-negative headlines from inside the Eurozone. EURUSD traded 1.4557-1.4616, USDJPY 80.05-80.33. Continue reading →

With China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan on holiday, and the G10 economic calendar light, FX markets were range bound during the Asia session. EURUSD traded 1.4608-1.4658, USDJPY 80.17-80.40. Continue reading →

Even though developments in the Eurozone have dominated proceedings of late, we expect the focus to shift to the US today as the labour market report is due, amid growing concern that the US economy is showing renewed signs of strain Continue reading →

The yen temporarily weakened during the Asia session amid newspaper speculation that a political crisis could be imminent in Japan. Prime Minister Kan is due to face a vote of no-confidence in parliament today but we doubt he will lose his post. EURUSD traded 1.4308-1.4401, USDJPY 80.84-81.33. Continue reading →

The euro was boosted by a report in the Greek press suggesting that a “new” deal with the EU/IMF/ECB is “imminent”. The AUD rallied in relief when Q1 GDP data did not prove to be as bad as feared. EURUSD traded 1.4366-1.4437, USDJPY 81.15-81.57. Continue reading →

The euro got a strong boost from a Wall Street Journal article which claimed that Germany might be willing to participate in another round of funding for Greece, even if a voluntary ‘soft’ restructuring of Greek debt does not first take place. No sources were cited, however the currency reaction was logical given that, if this is what ultimately happens, the market will not have to cope with the potential trauma of a restructuring event – at least not in the near term. EURUSD traded 1.4272-1.4406, USDJPY 80.72-81.38. Continue reading →