Asia Summary and Highlights 25 Jul

Asia Session

Thailand has evacuated more than 100,000 residents from areas near its border with Cambodia and prompted the United Nations Security Council to call an emergency meeting at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. It is the deadliest clash between the countries in decade as current death is reported to be above 144. So far we are seeing limited reaction from the market as there is little sign of further escalation that will trigger a chain reaction in the region. USD/JPY is trading 0.08% higher at 147.11. For July Tokyo CPI all y/y measures remain elevated with ex fresh food at 2.9%  and ex fresh food & energy at 3.1%. While it does implicate a certain level of moderation, the inflationary pressure is above BoJ's target of 2%. With trade uncertainty fading into the backdrop, BoJ's hands could be untied. Yet, the forward guidance in the July meeting is unlikely to change along the inflation forecast revision. 

The broader risk mood is individual on Friday as we see U.S. major equity indexes having minor gains while regional equities dip, led by more than one percent losses for HSI. There has not been many headlines crossing the wire, thus sentiment may only be affected by regional conflict in Thailand and Cambodia. AUD/USD is trading 0.21% lower at 0.6576, NZ/USD is trading 0.02% lower at 0.6026 while USD/CAD rises 0.13%. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.03% and GBP/USD is down 0.09%.