Asia Summary and Highlights 26 Sep
Japan Tokyo area CPI headline +2.5% y/y
Asia Session
The September Tokyo CPI headline dipped to 2.5% y/y with ex fresh food at 2% and ex fresh food & energy at 2.5%. While on first glance it may suggest a strong moderation in inflationary pressure, but we feel like it is more of a base effect than actual easing of inflation. USD/JPY is trading 0.1% lower at 149.64, shrugging off the negative revision in the wage figure from 4.1% to 3.4% y/y in July.
The broader risk sentiment is sour on Friday's Asia session. It seems to be dragged by Trump's latest barrage of tariffs, even with little detail. HSI and Nikkei are leading the losses while U.S. and Chinese major equity indexes are all in the red. AUD/USD is trading 0.02% higher at 0.6514, NZD/USD is trading 0.03% higher at 0.5769 while USD/CAD slips 0.02%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.11% and GBP/USD is up 0.08%.
North American session
The USD advanced across the board after a strong set of data, with gains continuing to build into the afternoon. Q2 GDP was revised up to 3.8% from 3.3% with historical revisions providing no negative offset. Initial claims to 218k from 232k were the lowest since July 19. Also August durable goods orders rose by 2.9%, 0.4% ex transport, and the advance August trade deficit fell sharply to $85.5bn from $102.8bn. Equities struggled as Fed easing projections were questioned.
USD/JPY rose to 149.80 from 148.85 and EUR/USD fell to 1.1660 from 1.1735. EUR/GBP sustained European gains around .8740 but EUR/CHF slipped to .9325 from .9345. USD/CAD pushed through 1.39 to peak at 1.3950 as AUD/USD fell to .6535 from .6580.