Asia Summary and Highlights 29 November

Asia Session

The jump in November Tokyo CPI to 2.6% y/y seems to have triggered anticipation of BoJ hike in December as we see JPY gains strongly. The correction in USD/JPY was stalled on Thursday but seems to have gathered steam on Friday's Asia time. The move aligns with yield dynamics between U.S. Treasury and JGB yet the speculation of an earlier rate hike than currently priced in will be a key trigger for the next leg lower. USD/JPY is testing the 150 figure by trading down 1% for the session.

Regional sentiment is upbeat so far on Friday's Asia session. Both the Chinese equity indexes and HSI are up more than a percent, while U.S> three major equity indexes are close to unchanged. USD is trading broadly lower with Treasury yields lower across the curve. AUD/USD is up 0.29% at 0.6518, NZD/USD also 0.4% higher at 0.5912 while USD/CAD slipped 0.17% on higher oil. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.17% and GBP/USD is up 0.18%.