Asia Summary and Highlights 23 Oct
Weekly high for USD/JPY
Asia Session
The USD/JPY continues to climb on Thursday. With Takaichi elected as PM and formed her own cabinet, there does not seem to be much support for the JPY. Market participants are diverged on their timing of BoJ hike but generally see a hike by December or January 2026. We will have to wait and see the details of Takaichi's policy before assessing their impact. USD/JPY is trading 0.29% higher at 152.40.
The U.S. has announced new sanctions on two largest Russian oil producers and it encourages oil bid in the Asia session. In the broader risk space, regional equities are in the red led by losses in Japan while U.S. major equity indexes hold on to their precise gains. AUD/USD is trading 0.02% lower at 0.6488, NZD/USD is down 0.08% at0.5734 while USD/CAD is unchanged. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.07% and GBP/USD is down 0.05%.
North American session
The USD was generally softer in North America. GBP/USD came close to reversing European losses, moving above 1.3350 after bottoming near 1.33, while EUR/USD moved above 1.16 from a low of 1.1577. EUR/GBP corrected from European highs, edging back below .87.
USD/CAD fell back below 1.40 after rising to 1.4030 with oil firmer but AUD/USD was little changed, unable to sustain a move above .65. USD/JPY was also little changed, near 151.90, after a brief dip to 151.50.