Article Highlights

  • Japan current account balance: 1.47T JPY vs. 2.15T JPY surplus expected, 1.65T JPY previous
  • Japan’s bank lending up by 2.5% vs. 2.6% expected and previous
  • Japanese government to make further reductions in corporate taxes
  • UK BRC retail sales monitor: -0.2% vs. 0.8% expected, 2.6% previous
  • AU NAB business conditions remains unchanged at 9
  • AU NAB business confidence: 2 vs. 5 previous
  • AU home loans: 2.0% vs. 0.1% expected, 1.5% previous
  • China’s CPI (y/y): 1.3% vs. 1.5% expected, 1.6% previous
  • China’s PPI (y/y) falls by another 5.9% as expected
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Asian session trading was as exciting as watching water boil, as a lack of catalysts forced forex traders to trade tight ranges.

Major Events:

China’s inflation and PPI releases – A few hours earlier we saw China’s CPI decline by 0.3% in October (vs. 0.2% decline expected) while the PPI also missed expectations with a 5.9% annualized decline when market players had only expected a 5.8% slip.

The reports weren’t received well by risk-takers, as the weak data came at the heels of China’s disappointing export and import numbers released just last weekend. Right now there are increased speculations that the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) would soon introduce more stimulus to prop up growth in the economy.

Japan’s current account – The Land of the Rising Sun reported a current account surplus of 1.47 trillion JPY in September, its 15th consecutive month of surplus. Like in the previous months, low oil prices and a weak yen helped boost overseas income. This could translate to capital investment, higher wages, and eventually higher consumer activity.

Japan to make further cuts on corporate taxes – In a speech in Parliament today, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe repeated his plans to further reduce Japan’s corporate tax rate. The government had already cut corporate taxes by 2.5% in April and Abe said that a further 0.8% cut is in the works.

Major Currency Movers:

JPY – It’s difficult to pinpoint movers when the major currencies barely moved from their open prices. Still, the yen lost a few pips on its counterparts despite better-than-expected news from Japan.

USD/JPY inched 12 pips higher (+0.10%) while AUD/JPY also popped up by 12 pips (+0.14%). The European currencies weren’t as active though, with EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY staying in uber-tight intraday ranges.

AUD – The comdoll gained a few pips across the board, possibly thanks to better-than-expected home loans and business confidence numbers from Australia. Its gains were limited though, likely due to China’s less-than-stellar CPI and PPI report as well as overall lack of volatility in the markets.

AUD/USD stayed near its session open prices but EUR/AUD fell by 25 pips (-0.16%) and AUD/NZD popped up by 11 pips (+0.10%) to 1.0797 and GBP/AUD slipped by 16 pips (-0.08%) to 2.1428.

Watch Out For:

  • Swiss unemployment rate at 6:45 am GMT (expected to remain at 3.4%)
  • French and Italian industrial production between 7:45 – 9:00 am GMT
  • Start of ECOFIN meetings

See more:

U.S. Session Recap

Bonnie and Clyde, peanut butter and jelly, Kanye West and Kanye West. Some things just go well together.

In forex trading, you get better odds at securing pips when your fundamental analysis is complemented by technical analysis.

Head on to Big Pippin’s Daily Chart Art for some pip-locking technical setups!