The US dollar added to its losses on Wednesday during the session here in Asia today. AUD, NZD, CAD, GBP, gold, EUR (though its lagged a little) and even the troubled yen rose against the big dollar. There was news out late in the US afternoon of administration efforts seeking to seize some of the USD300bn in frozen Russian assets, this added to the dollar offer.

News and data flow was subdued. There was a huge slump in Australian imports in December reported, which does not indicate an economy firing on all cylinders.

There were items, though, from China:

  • China will ease some visa requirements to make it easier for foreigners to travel for business, education and tourism. This appears to be a move to bolster the economy.
  • The People’s Bank of China approved a total of 100 bn yuan in group housing leasing loans
  • And further on the PBoC, it pushed back against yuan weakness at today’s reference rate setting, with the widest gap to estimates since November. That is, it was the strongest fix (for CNY) relative to estimates since November.

Offshore yuan, CNH, rose.

USDCNH hourly candles wrap 11 January 2024