Asia Open - Overnight Highlights

EMERGING ASIA

EM currencies perform individually against the USD as the global market seems to be cheering on potentially less tariff from the U.S.. The biggest winners are KRW by 0.41%, followed by SGD 0.19% and CNY 0.03%; while the largest losers are PHP 0.48%, IDR & THB 0.24%, INR & TWD 0.15%, CNH 0.03% and MYR & HKD 0.01%.

USD/CNH is trading higher at 7.2659 from 7.2639 previously closed. Onshore spot market is trading lower at 7.2584 from 7.2606 from previously closed. 12 month NDF followed the onshore market and is trading lower at 7.0880 compared to 7.0948 previously closed.

USD/IDR spot market is trading higher at 16612 from 16568 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading higher at 16629 from 16598 previously closed.

USD/INR onshore spot market is trading lower at 85.76 from 86.63 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading higher at 86.00 from 85.95 previously closed.

NA Session

The USD extended European losses early in North America, most notably on USD/JPY which fell below 150.  Weak US consumer confidence data, falling to 92.9 in March from 100.1, reaching its lowest since January 2021, saw the USD move off its lows versus the commodity currencies, AUD/USD back to .63 from a high of .6325, while USD/CAD recovered to 1.43 from a low of 1.4271 before some late slippage after Trump said Mexico and Canada have stepped up.  

Trump was more critical of the EU, and EUR/USD slipped back to 1.08 from a high of 1.0830, continuing to underperform GBP/USD, as EUR/GBP fell below .8340. USD/JPY remained weaker, seeing a low of 149.55 but edged back towards 150 in late trade. US new home sales were close to consensus, up 1.8% in February to 676k, and overshadowed by the consumer confidence data.