Major US indices closed lower for a fourth consecutive day on Monday, providing another weak lead for Asia stocks. Japan and Hong Kong were notable lower while the Shanghai Composite saw some support. As I post though Shanghai is slightly in the negative.

Across major FX it was another session of US dollar strength (almost) across the board. UST yields rose as trading began upon the return from the Columbus Day holiday. EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, NZD and CHF all fell against the USD during the session. USD/JPY has net moved very little at all. Its holding very close to levels where we last saw Bank of Japan intervention to buy the yen. Verbal intervention from Japanese officials today was weak though, see the bullets above for more on this.

The data focus for the session was on Australian September business confidence (recorded a drop) and conditions (these rose). Indications from the sub-indices to this National Australia Bank survey are suggestive of a peak for rising labour and input costs. We also had the Westpac monthly consumer confidence data (another drop). Responses to this survey showed clearly that those received prior to the RBA decision on October 4 were more pessimistic than those received after. Analysts at WPAC attributed this to the smaller than expected RBA cash rate hike.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released its annual report, in it Governor Orr reiterated his opinion that the Bank needed to hike further to continue fighting inflation.

usdyen wrap chart 11 October 2022