It was a pretty quiet day data-wise for the Asian session players, but Kiwi failed to get the memo and dropped like a rock instead. What’s up with that?!
- New Zealand’s visitor arrivals dip by 2.1% vs. 3.6% gain in February
- Australia’s quarterly CPI down from 0.6% to 0.4% vs. 0.5% expected
- Australia’s trimmed mean CPI increases from 0.4% to 0.5% as expected in Q1 2018
- BOJ’s core CPI (y/y) down from 0.8% to 0.7% in March
Major Events/Reports:
Australia’s CPI release
Australia’s consumer prices rose by 0.4% in Q1 2018, missing estimates of a 0.5% growth and came in below the previous quarter’s 0.6% uptick.
On an annualized basis, prices retained their 1.9% growth when markets had expected them to increase by 2.0%. Turns out, food prices rebounded but others such as housing and transport costs grew at a softer pace.
RBA’s trimmed mean CPI – a more closely watched indicator – showed a 1.9% growth compared to its 1.8% reading in Q4. Meanwhile, RBA’s weighted mean CPI saw a 2.0% annualized expansion like in the previous quarter.
Overall, the numbers support the RBA members’ hints that there’s “not a strong case for a near-term adjustment in monetary policy.” Yikes!
No data? No problem!
The lack of fresh catalysts didn’t stop the Asian bourses from partying in the streets:
- Nikkei is up by 0.85% to 22,276.6
- Australia’s A SX 200 is up by 0.56% to 5,916.1
- Hang Seng is up by 0.95% to 30,541.9
- Shanghai index is up by 1.85% to 3,124.661
Meanwhile, OPEC’s efforts to tighten markets and speculations of fresh sanctions the U.S. would slap on Iran are pushing oil prices higher.
- Gold is up by 0.22% to $1,327.40
- Brent crude oil is down by 0.01% to $75.00
- U.S. WTI is up by 0.28% to $69.08
Major Market Mover(s):
NZD
There was really no catalyst for the Kiwi’s bloodbath, but some analysts point to broken technical support levels across the board as possible reasons for the strong selloffs.
NZD/USD is down by 31 pips (-0.43%) to .7117
NZD/JPY is down by 27 pips (-0.34%) to 77.42
EUR/NZD is up by 75 pips (+0.44%) to 1.7155
GBP/NZD is up by 91 pips (+0.47%) to 1.9592
AUD/NZD is up by 49 pips (+0.46%) to 1.0687
NZD/CAD is down by 45 pips (-0.49%) to .9137
Watch Out For:
- 6:00 am GMT: Switzerland’s trade balance (3.23B CHF expected, 3.14B CHF previous)
- 8:00 am GMT: Germany’s Ifo business climate (102.7 expected, 103.2 previous)
- 10:00 am GMT: U.K.’s CBI industrial order expectations to remain at 4 in April?