Asia Open - Overnight Highlights

EMERGING ASIA

EM currencies perform individually against the USD as the greenback remains choppy as the U.S. PCE inflation data beats estimate. PHP saw the largest gains of 0.41%, followed by THB 0.28%, HKD 0.05%, MYR, IDR and TWD 0.03%; the biggest loser is CNH by 0.12%, SGD 0.07%, CNY 0.05% and KRW 0.03%.

USD/CNH is trading higher at 7.1885 compared to the 7.1799 at previous close. Onshore spot USD/CNY is trading higher 7.1774 compared to the 7.1739 at previous close. 12 month NDF followed both the on/offshore market and is trading higher  at 6.9956 compared to 6.9875 previous closed.

USD/IDR spot market is trading lower at 15825 from 15826 previously closed. 1 month NDF is trading lower at 15797 from 15817 previous closed.

USD/INR onshore spot market is closed. 1 month NDF is trading lower at 83.22 from 83.24 previously closed.

NA Session

The USD moved slightly firmer through the US session, gaining around 10 pips against both the EUR while USD/JPY edged back above 148 in a quiet session. GBP/USD slipped to near 1.27 as EUR/GBP edged higher. The commodity currencies largely erased gains seen in Europe, though CAD showed more resilience than AUD.

The US data was on the strong side of expectations, supporting the USD gains. December’s 0.3% gain in personal income and 0.2% gain in the core PCE price index were in line with expectations, though the 0.7% rise in personal spending exceeded the consensus. Q4 totals had already been seen with the GDP report. December’s 8.3% increase in pending home sales was well above expectations but consistent with recent signs of revival in the NAHB and MBA surveys, as housing demand responds to lower mortgage rates.