Asia Summary and Highlights 28 January
Japan December Services PPI 2.9% y/y
Bessent is pushing a starting 2.5% universal US tariff plan
Asia Session
On Tuesday's Asia session, we have another round of Trump, ordering a halt to federal loans and grant with his Treasury Secretary floating the idea of a 2.5% universal US tariff. USD regained strength and see it outperforming major counterparts. USD/JPY jumped 0.77% to 155.69 with U.S. Treasury Yields opening higher.
The broad sentiment continues to be soft after the rout on Monday. Trump replied his Treasury Secretary earlier comment and says he want tariff to be more than 2.5%, seeing USD jumping further. AUD/USD is down 0.68% at 0.6249, NZD/USD is down 0.6% to 0.5659 while USD/CAD rose 0.17%. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.52% and GBP/USD is down 0.42%.
North American session
The USD saw a partial correction from its European losses in North America, with USD/JPY moving above 154/50 from a low of 153.72. USD/CHF moved back above 0.90, EUR/USD slipped back below 1.05 and GBP/USD slipped back below 1.25, though in each case the moves were modest. The USD saw stronger rebounds versus the commodity currencies, USD/CAD rising to touch 1.44 from a low of 1.4331 and AUD/USD seeing a low of .6275.
US December new home sales were stronger than expected with a 3.6% increase to 698k. Tech stocks remained weak but elsewhere equities were mixed.