Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 24 November 2015

  • Westpac have raised their Australian Q3 GDP forecast, here's why
  • Aust. Treasury - Potential GDP growth 2.75% (prior 3%)
  • Richard Russell, Publisher of Dow Theory Letters, Dies at 91
  • PIMCO says baseline view in markets is a very high probability of December liftoff
  • China: Coal transport by rail down 19.7% y/y in October
  • Japan fin min Aso: Not considering tax cuts without replacement revenue
  • Japan flash manufacturing PMI for November - more
  • Japan economy minister Amari: Important to have increase in minimum wage
  • Japan Nikkei Manufacturing PMI for November (flash): 52.8 (prior 52.4)
  • People’s Bank of China (PBOC) sets yuan reference rate at 6.3888
  • BoA/ML: USD/RMB peg 'marriage of convenience' is headed for a divorce
  • The rare public rift at the core of the European Central Bank
  • Technical analysis set ups: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CAD
  • Commodity Exporters! Here are (3) Reasons to be cheerful
  • Epic oil glut sparks super tanker 'traffic jams' at sea ...
  • Australia weekly Consumer Sentiment: 114.5 (prior 115.9)
  • ICYMI: EUR zone Composite PMI to its highest in 4 years
  • Trade ideas thread for Tuesday 24 November 2015
  • Forex - Investigation launched into 'ghosting' in FX options
  • Fed's Yellen: Most Ffed policymakers expect pace of rate hikes will be gradual

Minor US dollar weakness in Asia today, with little in the way of data or comments to spur much movement.

The data we did get, though, was instructive, with the flash Japanese Manufacturing PMI showing more improvement and providing a bit of support to the yen.

In Australia, we got Q3 trade data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with a surprise gain in export volumes. The result augurs well for next week's GDP result, Westpac have already revised their expectation higher (see that link in the previous sentence).

Forex moves, though, were subdued, with minor gains pretty much across the board and little in the way of follow through. EUR, GBP, CHF, yen .... all up a little against the greenback.

AUD and NZD were not left behind, AUD/USD is 15 or so points higher than when I walked in; with the NZD a gainer by a similar magnitude.

Even the yellow rock has fared OK today (that's gold in case you're wondering) up a few dollars on the session. Oil is more or less flat, up a few cents.

Regional equities with Shanghai closed for the lunch break:

  • Shanghai -0.73%
  • Nikkei +0.11% ... Japan back from a long weekend holiday today
  • HK -0.70%
  • ASX -0.73%

Still to come:

  • RBA governor Glenn Stevens speaks during the London timezone