Asia Summary and Highlights 14 March

Asia Session

The market is upbeat on Friday's Asia session as somewhat positive development in the U.S. is announced. Frist, the Democrats confirmed they will vote to keep the government open and Canadian FM says they will be maintaining dialogue with the U.S. after some back and forth headlines crossing the wire. USD/JPY is trading 0.51% higher at 148.55 with both the U.S. Treasury and JGB yields higher.

Optimism in the Chinese equity market continue to build as we see the Shanghai Composite reached new yearly high. There has been little headline to trigger the move, market chatters seems to be pointing towards capital inflow as a key factor. AUD/USD is up 0.18% at 0.6295, NZD/USD is up 0.26% while USD/CAD slips 0.09%. Else, EUR/USD and GBP/USD is down 0.05%.

North American session

US PPI came in significantly weaker than expected at unchanged overall and -0.1% ex food and energy, but the market reaction was very brief. Initial claims fell to 220k from 222k.  

With Trump threatening a 200% tariff on EU wine, EUR/USD saw an early dip to a low of 1.0823 but this was reversed, EUR/USD returning to a narrow range above 1.0850. GBP/USD and AUD/USD also saw modest dips reversed. Tariff worries did see equities under pressure which saw USD/CAD rise to 1.4450 and USD/JPY fall below 147.50 before modest late corrections. AUD/CAD gains stalled ahead of 0.91.