Article Highlights
- Japan’s flash manufacturing PMI rises from 49.3 to 49.6 in August
- No jawboning from Kuroda’s speech today
The dollar was the biggest loser during the Asian forex trading session, as a lack of economic releases encouraged a bit of risk-taking.
Major Events:
All aboard the risk appetite train! – With no major economic report on tap, risk-takers had a chance to dominate the trading session. Asian equities bounced higher after starting the week on a weak (hey, it rhymes!) note and mostly shrugged off further declines in oil prices.
Nikkei didn’t join the party though, mostly because the yen is still killing it across the board. If you recall, the safe-haven currency has been popping higher since Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s latest set of stimulus disappointed market expectations.
No hints from BOJ’s Kuroda – It didn’t help the Bank of Japan (BOJ’s) cause that Governor Kuroda didn’t share any monetary policy hints in his speech in Tokyo. See, just last weekend the BOJ head honcho hinted that he and his team could still push the pedal to the metal and step up their stimulus efforts. Not surprisingly, the lack of a follow-up inspired more yen rallies today.
Major Market Movers:
USD – The low-yielding dollar got hit by the risk appetite train and was pushed lower across the board.
EUR/USD is up by 9 pips (+0.08%) to 1.1330, GBP/USD is up by 3 pips (+0.02%) to 1.3141, and USD/CHF is down by 18 pips (-0.19%) to .9615 from its .9633 session high.
NZD – Kiwi bulls are still partying on the streets after Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Graeme Wheeler hinted that the central bank won’t be as aggressive towards raising rates as market players believed.
NZD/USD is up by 31 pips (+0.43%) to .7307, NZD/JPY is up by 35 pips (+0.48%) to 73.32, and EUR/NZD is down by 58 pips (-0.37%) to 1.5503.
Watch Out For:
- 6:00 am GMT: Switzerland trade balance (3.79B CHF expected, 3.55B CHF previous)
- 7:00 am GMT: French flash manufacturing PMI (49.1 expected, 48.6 previous)
- 7:00 am GMT: French flash services PMI (50.6 expected, 50.5 previous)
- 7:30 am GMT: German flash manufacturing PMI (53.7 expected, 53.8 previous)
- 7:30 am GMT: German flash services PMI (53.0 expected, 52.9 previous)
- 8:00 am GMT: Euro Zone flash manufacturing PMI (52.1 expected, 52.0 previous)
- 8:00 am GMT: Euro Zone flash services PMI (53.0 expected, 52.9 previous)
- 10:00 am GMT: CBI industrial order expectations
See more:
U.S. Session Recap
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