Asia Open - Overnight Highlights

EMERGING ASIA

EM currencies perform mostly weaker against the USD as the greenback gained strength on stronger than expected NFP. PHP saw the largest gains of 0.19%, followed by THB 0.18%, and MYR 0.05%; the biggest loser is KRW by 1.87%, followed by CNH 0.66%, SGD 0.54%, IDR 0.42%, TWD 0.4%, HKD 0.03% and INR 0.01%.

USD/CNH is trading higher at 7.0984 from 7.0515 previously closed. Onshore spot market is closed to observe the National Holiday. 12 month NDF followed the offshore market and is trading higher at 6.9275 compared to 6.8910 previously closed.

USD/IDR spot market is trading higher at 15485 from 15429 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading higher at 15704 from 15472 previously closed.

USD/INR onshore spot market is trading higher at 83.97 from 83.96 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading higher at 84.15 from 84.12 previously closed.

North America Session

September’s non-farm payroll was significantly stronger than expected, with a 254k increase, an above trend 0.4% increase in average hourly earnings and a fall in unemployment to 4.1% from 4.2%. This saw the USD rise sharply as bets on a 50bps November FOMC easing were taken off. Most of the action came in the knee-jerk response to the data.

USD/JPY saw the biggest response, extending gains to touch 149 in the afternoon after trading near 146.50 before the data. EUR/USD fell to near 1.0950 from 1.1030 before a modest correction. GBP/USD saw a more significant correction off its lows (below 1.31) than most, leaving GBP/USD near Asian levels around 1.3130, while EUR/GBP slipped to .8360. EUR/CHF was in contrast slightly higher at .9420. AUD/USD fell to .68 from .6840. USD/CAD gains from 1.3550 were relatively modest, with 1.36 not tested. AUD/CAD fell to .9220 from .9275.