Asia Summary and Highlights 11 Nov
Japan economy minister Kuichi says the weak yen is pushing up prices, higher import costs
Asia Session
As USD/JPY push higher, we are hearing weak verbal intervention from the Japan EM Kuichi. He says the weak yen is pushing up prices, higher import costs while suggesting measures to deal with high living cost. The expansive budget is one of the reason why JPY further weakens, thus such jawboning seems to be poorly orchestrated. USD/JPY is trading 0.07% higher at 154.24.
The one year RBNZ inflation expectation has been revised 0.02% higher from 2.37% while two year expectation remain the same. It echoes with RBNZ's previous statement that inflation will be higher in a short run and should not derail their easing plans. NZD/USD is trading 0.11% lower at 0.5638. The borad risk sentiment is sour after Monday's rise. AUD/USD is trading 0.21% lower at 0.6523 while USD/CAD rises 0.09%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.04% and GBP/USD is down 0.04%.
North American session
Equities were lifted by hopes of a near term end to the government shutdown but USD/JPY was fairly stable near 154 while AUD/USD and USD/CAD also saw little movement. EUR/USD saw some movement in both directions but ended little changed near 1.1560. However EUR/CHF slipped to near .93 from .9320 while EUR/GBP slipped to .8770 from .8790. Fed talk saw Miran call for a 50bps ease in December but Musalem saw little room to ease further. Daly was more balanced, seeing a need to keep an open mind about future rate cuts, though with a slightly dovish tone in her views on the economy.