- Japan January retail sales better than expected at +1.9% YoY
- FinMin Azumi reiterated to G20, that Japan willing to take steps against excessive FX moves
- Reuters poll predicts 50.7 for China PMI on Thursday
- S&P cuts Greece to ‘selective default’ (expected)
- Regional bourses mixed; Nikkei -0.6%, Shanghai -0.2%, HK +0.4%, Korea +0.2%.
- Gold $1770/oz; Oil $108/bbl
USD/JPY was the main mover again today, but the first move this time was down, as exporters sold ahead of the month end and traders booked profits after a strong upmove in recent days. USD/JPY tumbled at times, especially when stops went off below 80.25, but finally steadied at the obvious psychological level 80.00. The JPY crosses were also sold heavily just prior to the Tokyo Fix, but they’ve also recovered to beyond mid-range. USD/JPY 80.00/62; EUR/JPY 107.27/108.03
AUD/USD has been fairly quiet today, but dealers again remarked that plenty of buyers seem to emerge every time there is any hint of a sell-off. The dip happened in early Tokyo trade when AUD/JPY selling emerged pre-Fix, but AUD/USD has bounced back nicely to end the session near its highs. Range: 1.0737/76
EUR/USD opened below 1.3400 but talk of decent sized bids near 1.3370 encouraged intraday bulls and tight trailing stops above hourly highs at 1.3420 were eventually tripped. Ranges: 1.3390/1.3438
Cable 1.5812/44; EUR/CHF 1.2042/54