Asia Summary and Highlights 20 May
The RBA cut 25bps as most expected
Asia Session
The RBA cut 25bps as most expected. They are seeing the trimmed mean CPI to tread towards the mid point of target range and stay there in the forecast period, while headline inflation will likely inch towards the upper band of target range. AUD/USD is trading 0.46% lower at 0.6427, NZD/USD is down 0.21% to 0.5917 while UISD/CAD is up 0.07%
USD/JPY jumped to session high of 145.50 when most Asia market comes online. Apart from broadly somewhat upbeat sentiment, we have headlines from Japanese EM Akazawa suggest talks with U.S. was indeed continuing on Monday and Nippon Steel sweetens the U.S. Steel deal with more investment. USD/JPY reversed to trade 0.28% lower at 144.44.Else, EUR/USD and GBP/USD are both up 0.08%.
North American session
Equities opened weaker and UST yields opened higher after the Moody’s downgrade, but equities returned to near neutral and UST yields moved lower, despite hawkish Fed talk from Bostic, Williams and Jefferson. The USD moved off its lows, but remained weaker on the day. USD/JPY was stable near 145, but EUR/USD fell to 1.1235 from a high of 1.1288, while GBP/USD fell to 1.3350 from 1.34. AUD/USD was firmer at .6450, but USD/CAD, after slipping to a low of 1.319 rebounded to 1.3960. This saw AUD/CAD rising above .90.