Asia Summary and Highlights 24 Jan

Asia Session

The Japan December Trade data came in stronger than expected. December Exports increased by 9.8% y/y vs expected +9.1% and imports declined by 6.8% y/y vs expected -5.3% while Trade Balance is positive 62.1bn yen vs expectation of -122.1bn. The report shows very strong export to the U.S. and a pick up in Chinese demand, which are good news for the Japanese economy. Else, JGBs yields jumped on rate hike expectation. With U.S. Treasury Yields falling, USD/JPY is trading 0.24% lower at 147.92. 

The NZ Q4 CPI is banging in estimate at 0.5% q/q and 4.7% y/y. With the RBNZ OCR forecasting only half a 25bps hike in last revision of OCR path, this CPI data is not supportive for the RBNZ to turn that into a complete hike. With positive regional risk sentiment, NZD/USD is trading 0.02% higher at 0.6104 and AUD/USD slipped 5 pips to 0.6574 while USD/CAD rose 0.06% to 1.3468. Else, EUR/USD is 0.09% higher and GBP/USD is 0.11% higher.

North American session

The USD made ground across the board through the North American session. EUR/USD lost around 50 pips to a low near 1.0825, and there were similar USD gains elsewhere, with GBP/USD touching 1.2650 and USD/JPY gaining a little more than half a figure to move above 148.50. There wasn’t much news to drive the USD gains, but US yields were higher on the day, and the Eurozone consumer confidence numbers were a little below expectations, albeit well above recent lows. January’s Richmond Fed survey showed manufacturing weaker, but services slightly improved.