Asia Open - Overnight Highlights

EMERGING ASIA

EM currencies perform individually against the USD on Friday as the uncertainty from Trump's tariff persists. The biggest winner is PHP by 0.48%, followed by INR 0.24%, THB 0.17%, MYR 0.12% and HKD 0.05%; while the largest loser is SGD 0.99%, followed by KRW 0.75% and CNH 0.2%.

USD/CNH is trading higher at 7.2951 from 7.2804 previously closed. Onshore spot market is trading closed. 12 month NDF followed the offshore market and is trading higher at 7.1225 compared to 7.1142  previously closed.

USD/IDR spot market is trading lower at 16653 from 16746 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading higher at 17023 from 16738 previously closed.

USD/INR onshore spot market is trading lower at 85.23 from 85.44 previously closed . 1 month NDF is trading higher at 85.73 from 85.58 previously closed.

NA Session

Early on China’s announcement of 34% retaliatory tariffs on the US saw USD/JPY plunge to near 144.50 from near 146.50, and EUR/USD saw a more modest rise back above 1.10. After that it was mostly a picture a rising USD while equities saw another steep plunge, with USD/JPY moving above 147. EUR/USD losses were modest, to near 1.0950, EUR holding up better than GBP. AUD/USD fell sharply, testing 0.60 while USD/CAD rose above 1.42. 

The main news items of the day, non-farm payrolls and a speech by Fed’s Powell, were USD supportive but did not trigger sharp responses. Payrolls were stronger than expected with a 228k increase but with 48k of net negative revisions, while unemployment rose to 4.2% from 4.1%. Average earnings rose by a modest 0.3%, and less before rounding. Powell stated that tariffs were greater than expected and saw risk that a boost to inflation could prove persistent, though the policy path was unclear. Canada saw a weak employment report, employment down 32.6k and unemployment up to 6.7% from 6.6%.