Asia Open - Overnight Highlights

EMERGING ASIA

EM currencies perform mostly stronger against the USD as the tariff man latest rhetoric on reciprocal tariff does not seem to be as pressing as it seems. The biggest winner are SGD by 0.76%, followed by THB 0.71%, CNH 0.56%, KRW 0.47%, MYR 0.31%, CNY 0.26%, PHP 0.23%, TWD 0.16%, IDR 0.07% and HKD by 0.02%.

USD/CNH is trading lower at 7.2699 from 7.3104 previously closed. Onshore spot market is trading lower at 7.2879 from 7.3069 previously closed. 12 month NDF followed both the on/offshore market and is trading lower at 7.0975 compared to 7.1360 previously closed.

USD/IDR spot market is trading lower at 16355 from 16367 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading lower at 16281 from 16404 previously closed.

USD/INR onshore spot market is trading lower at 86.89 from 86.88 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading lower at 86.92 from 87.23 previously closed.

NA Session

US PPI was on the firm side of consensus at 0.4%, though core rates at 0.3% were on consensus. Despite this, and a fall in initial claims to 213k from 220k, UST yields slipped, with economist noting that the PPI components that contribute to core PCE price data were quite subdued. The USD saw little initial reaction to the data, but later slipped ahead of a scheduled Trump tariff announcement.  

On Trump’s announcement the USD saw a bounce, with EUR/USD briefly fully erasing its gains, perhaps due to Trump stating European VAT rates were seen as a tariff. However, the move was quickly reversed with the tariffs not set for immediate introduction and USD losses extended in late trade. EUR/USD advanced above 1.0450 from 1.0375 while GBP/USD moved above 1.2550.  USD/JPY fell below 153 from 153.80. AUD/USD moved above .63 while USD/CAD slipped to near 1.42. Equities were stronger.