Asia Summary and Highlights 1 Sep
US Federal Appeals court rules that most of Trump's tariffs are illegal
Asia Session
Over the weekend, the Federal Circuit court ruled that most of Trump's tariffs are illegal. While it is likely going to be contested in the high court, it brings volatility in the early Asia session. U.S. equities were trading higher and USD trading broadly lower. USD/JPY is trading 0.06% lower at 146.94 after touching a session high of 147.37 as JGB yields gains throughout the session.
It is a tale of two cities in the regional equity market as we see HSI leading with almost 2% gains while Nikkei slump by almost the same amount. U.S. major equity indexes are in the red after a few breathes above the water in early Asia session. AUD/USD is trading 0.08% higher at 0.6544, NZD/USD is trading 0.07% higher at 0.5901 while USD/CAD slips 0.04%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.2% and GBP/USD up 0.11%, both opened with a gap but was quickly closed.
North American session
After a positive start the USD slipped during the North American session to end marginally lower. The first round of data had little impact, with July core PCE prices at 0.3%, personal income at 0.4% and spending at 0.5% all on consensus, though July’s advance goods trade deficit at $103.6bn from $84.9bn was significantly wider than expected. A weak August Chicago PMI of 41.5 from 47.1 and downward revision in the 5-10 year inflation view to 3.5% from 3.9% in the final August Michigan CSI helped fuel the USD’s subsequent slippage.
EUR/USD rise to near 1.17 from 1.1650 while USD/JPY slipped to near 147 from 147.40. GBP/USD rose to near 1.35 from 1.3450. and AUD/USD rose to near .6550 from .6525. A 1.6% annualized decline in Q2 Canadian GDP lifted USD/CAD to 1.3780 from 1.3750 but slippage to 1.3735 followed. AUD/CAD gains on the data failed to breach .90.