Asian Session Forex Recap – Dec. 17, 2015

Asian session forex traders showed some love for the dollar, as they priced in the Fed’s recent interest rate hike.

Major Events:

FOMC statement hangover – The dollar gained against its major counterparts during the Asian session, as forex traders priced in the Fed’s historic interest rate hike. As I mentioned in my U.S. session recap, the central bank not only raised interest rates, but also raised its growth forecasts. With optimism like that, who needs Santa Claus?

New Zealand GDP release – The Kiwi failed to find support from a better-than-expected GDP release in New Zealand. The report clocked in a 0.9% growth in Q3 2015, higher than the downwardly revised 0.3% downtick in Q2 2015 and the expected 0.8% uptick for the quarter. A closer look tells us that the growth was driven by improvements in the service industries and manufacturing. Unfortunately for the Kiwi bulls, most market players were busy selling higher-yielding currencies in favor of the dollar.

Japan returns to trade deficit – Japan’s trade balance report was bleeding with all the red marks from the details. For starters, the balance showed a deficit of 379B JPY when market players were only expecting a deficit of 449B JPY. One look at the details tells us that exports had fallen by 3.3% from a year ago while imports fell by 10.2% from the same month last year. Will these numbers lead to the BOJ supplying the markets with fresh stimulus?

Major Currency Movers:

USD – The Greenback dominated the trading session as our Asian session forex trader friends took their chance in pricing in more dollar strength.

EUR/USD fell by 128 pips (-1.17%) throughout the session while GBP/USD also suffered a 105-pip drop. Meanwhile, USD/JPY popped up by 65 pips (+0.53%) and USD/CHF rose by 113 pips (+1.15%).

Comdolls – High-yielding currencies like the comdolls took the brunt of the dollar rally during the session. AUD/USD slipped by 92 pips (-1.27%) while USD/CAD popped up by 29 pips (+0.21%). Not even the Kiwi, which could have gained from stronger-than-expected New Zealand GDP report, had any game against the Greenback. NZD/USD fell by 76 pips (-1.09%) throughout the session.

Watch Out For:

• 9:00 am GMT: German Ifo business climate (109.2 expected vs. 109.0 previous)
• 9:30 am GMT: U.K. retail sales (0.6% expected vs. -0.6% previous)
• 11:00 am GMT: CBI industrial order expectations (-9 expected vs. -11 previous)

See more:

U.S. Session Forex Recap

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