Forex news for Asia trading Tuesday 26 May 2015

If you are just getting back to the desk after a long weekend there in Europe and the UK, here is what you've missed over the past few days:

  • Asia wrap - for Monday (and the weekend news)
  • Europe/UK wrap for Monday - the news for the holiday Monday
  • US/Canada FX wrap for Monday (Canada was open on Monday, and we had 2 Federal Reserve speakers)

OK, and here are the Asian headlines etc. for Tuesday

  • More on the Chinese company expected to miss full bond payment
  • More on Goldman Sachs bearish commodities call
  • British manufacturers want the EU referendum no later than 2016 - to head off uncertainty
  • Sumitomo says watch out 122 in USD/JPY
  • More on Singapore GDP
  • China to cut taxes on many imported consumer goods
  • USD strength spreading across the board - EUR/USD slicing lower
  • Wall Street Journal: Money managers slash wagers against Japanese currency
  • Australia dumbs down: Government bets on baristas over brains (& dont wear onesie at work)
  • Japan Services PPI for April: +0.7% y/y (vs. +0.6% expected)
  • Australia ANZ Roy Morgan weekly Consumer Sentiment: 113.5 (vs. 114.6 prior)
  • Goldman Sachs reminds us: Europe political uncertainty could impact on economic forecasts
  • New Zealand April trade balance: +123m (expected +98m)
  • Overnight news: Greece says it has no plans for capital controls
  • NYT: With Money Drying Up, Greece Is All but Bankrupt
  • Nikkei quotes senior MOF official: "The BOJ is very bullish on the economy"
  • Has Greece found another way to delay paying the bills?

Asia came off the Europe/UK/USA holiday in the usual quiet manner, with little movement, just a bit of a sideways shuffle.

As Tokyo got active, though we started to see some flow, generally towards a gaining US dollar (again!).

USD/JPY ticked back higher and made its way back to the highs seen in Asia on Monday.

EUR, GBP, CHF soon joined in, they all gave up ground against the USD. EUR/USD fell through 1.0975, eventually to as low as just above 1.0930, while cable dropped toward 1.5430 and USD/CHF as high as 0.9475. The strong USD story has been kicking around again since last week, but the catalysts for today's move wasn;t immediately obvious ... perhaps there isn't just one, but the much better than expected Singapore GDP data certainly raised some eyebrows - maybe global growth isn't going down the gurgler quite as quick as some of the headless chooks would have us all believe.

AUD and NZD were notably resilient as others fell. They both ticked a little lower but ranges were small on the downside. As i update the AUD/USD is at new session highs, while the NZD/USD is trading mid-range.