- President Obama sees signs of economic progress
- He also sees the USD remaining strong and as the only global reserve currency
- “Chinese economy has touched bottom”- PBOC policy advisor Fan Gang
- Japan March Retail Investor Sentiment, a record low of -74 from -64 in February
- Japan Feb Trade Balance, +82.4bln Yen
- US bailout puts too much risk on taxpayer- Stiglitz
- Australian regulator won’t oppose Chinalco/Rio deal.
- Japan to extend ban on naked short-selling in equity markets
Fairly quiet in Asia with the majors in tight ranges. President Obama spoke to the US nation and the PBOC were again being very public with their views. The Japanese economy continues to struggle although there were some bright spots in the data released today. The AUD might eventually benefit significantly from the ACCC decision not to oppose the Chinalco/Rio deal.
After the volatility of recent days, regional equity markets were quiet with the Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai bourses losing less than 0.5% and the Kospi and AllOrds gaining around 0.5%. Brent crude is consolidating above $50/bbl and Gold is marginally higher in Asia at $928/oz but still losing some of its’ lustre as the market starts to take on risk again.
USD/JPY has again been the biggest mover in Asia, only today the direction was down as profit taking on all JPY crosses weighed. The range has been 97.43/98.34. EUR/JPY managed to reach it’s major 38.2% retracement level yesterday at 134.25 and the subsequent fall is significant. Today’s range 130.97/132.57. EUR/USD 134.43/1.3496. Cable 1.4640/1.4719. Swissy 1.1291/1.1322. AUD/USD .6942/.6996.