Weekend:

It was a fairly subdued session with unofficial holidays thinning out interest and trading activity.

News and data flow was light. Japan's manufacturing PMI for December was confirmed to have remained in contraction, although the reading improved from November.

People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng indicated the Band has room to lower rates. As I noted at the time a contraint the Bank is facing is the weak yuan. Further reducing rates will be viewed by the Bank as raising the likelihood of further capital movement out of the country, which they'd prefer to avoid.

In news over the weekend China's central government has urged local governments to give cash hanbdouts ahead of New Year holidays in order to bolster demand in the economy.

USD/JPY update, tracking just below 158.00:

usdyen jpy wrap 30 December 2024 2

As I post BTC/USD remains under US$94K.