Asia Summary and Highlights 7 February
Japan government official says December household spending best since August 2022
Asia Session
The Japan December Household Spending y/y has finally shown signs of improvement as it grew by +2.7%. It is a good sign for the Japanese economy as private consumption has been hindering the growth in 2024. An improving consumption and higher wage dynamic would be great for the BoJ to see. USD/JPY is trading 0.17% higher at 151.6 after touching the session low of 150.95.
Regional equities in China and Hong Kong are solid while Nikkei treaded lower. U.S. equity indexes are in the green as sentiment feels more calm on Friday. AUD/USD is unchanged at 0.6284, NZD/USD is up 0.03% and USD/CAD rose 0.09%. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.03% and GBP/USD is down 0.06%.
North American session
The Bank of England eased by 25bps as expected but with two dovish dissents. GBP/USD slipped to a low of 1.2361 while EUR/GBP bounced to a high of .8378 from .8340. However, the moves were gradually erased, with GBP/USD edging higher in a weaker USD environment. EUR/USD gains were modest, stalling ahead of 1.04, leaving EUR/GBP near .8350. USD/JPY fell almost a big figure to trade below 151.50, while USD/CAD tested 1.43 before a modest correction. AUD/CAD was fairly stable after peaking at .90, with AUD/USD up to .6280.
US data had little impact. Initial claims bounced to a still low 219k from 208k. Q4 non-farm productivity was on consensus at 1.2% but unit labor costs at 3.0% were slightly softer than expectations.