Asia Summary and Highlights 17 May
Bank of Japan Governor Ueda says he has no immediate plan to sell the Bank's ETF holdings
Asia Session
The latest BoJ JGB purchase operation sees no change to the amount purchased which seems to suggest the BoJ is not pushing forward less easing. Ueda also says he has no immediate plan to sell the Bank's ETF holdings, all does not point to a hawkish tilt. JGB yields are outperforming the U.S. Treasury counterpart. USD/JPY is trading 0.26% higher at 155.77.
Chinese April economic data come in mixed with industrial output positive but domestic demand remains soft. Regional sentiment is mixed with Chinese equities under performing. With USD solid and soft Chinese equities, AUD/USD is trading 0.22% lower at 0.6663, NZD/USD is 0.08% lower at 0.6117 while USD/CAD up 0.03%. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.08% and GBP/USD is down 0.09%.
North American session
The USD advanced early in the session, but corrected against most currencies leaving the USD little changed against most pairs, EUR/USD returning to 1.0870. USD/JPY however briefly reached 155.50, with only a modest subsequent correction to 155.30, leaving it firmer on the session. CHF was also weaker, EUR/CHF rallying from lows below .98 to .9840 and USD/CHF up from .90 to .9050.
US data was generally close to expectations, and consistent with some slowing in the economy, though UST yields moved higher. Initial claims corrected lower by 10k to 222k, April housing starts rose 5.7% after a 16.8% March decline but permits saw a 3.0% decline to follow a fall of 5.0%. May’s Philly Fed manufacturing index slipped to 4.5 from 15.5 while April industrial production was unchanged.