Asia Summary and Highlights 10 December
RBA kept rates unchanged
Asia Session
As per forecast, the RBA has kept interest rate at 4.35%. While headline inflation is getting closer to target range, the RBA has downplayed it by government energy subsidy and is now looking towards the mid point of target range or "underlying, RBA trimmed mean" inflation before taking action. The AUD/USD sunk further by 0.78% to 0.6390, NZD/USD also dragged 0.64% lower to 0.5827 while USD/CAD rose 0.07% on softer oil.
U.S. Treasury Yields are lower across the curve while JGB are higher and see USD/JPY unchanged at 151.21. Regional equities beat other major equity indexes as we have a strong trade number from China in November. EUR/USD is up 0.04% and GBP/USD is down 0.03%.
North American session
North American trade saw continued gains in USD/JPY, rising to a high of 151.35 before settling near 151.25. Movements in other currencies had less direction. Gains in EUR/USD and GBP/USD peaked near 1.06 and 1.28 respectively before slipping back to end little changed near 1.0550 and 1.2750. USD/CAD saw an early dip below 1.41 before ending firmer near 1.4170. AUD/USD gains extended to .6470 before slipping back to .6435. UST yields were firmer but equities slipped.
There was little news, though a New York Fed survey showed slightly higher inflation expectations and increased consumer optimism in November.