The forex markets turned mixed in Asian session today, awaiting fresh stimulus. Australian Dollar was briefly lifted by stronger than expected Q4 private capital expenditure. But it’s quickly knocked down by poor China PMI manufacturing. USTR Robert Lighthizer’s testimony on China trade talk triggered little reactions in the markets. Similar, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony and Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam are shrugged off. Sterling is currently the weakest for today while Swiss Franc is strongest. But major pairs and crosses are bounded in tight range. The picture can be easily changed ahead.
For the week, Sterling remains on the strongest one on fading no-deal Brexit risks. Euro is following as the second strongest. Yen is the weakest one, partly due to strong rally in global treasury yields at the long end. German 10-year yield is back pressing 0.15. US 30-year yield also had the largest jump in about a month yesterday. Canadian Dollar is the second weakest for the week. Focus will now turn to GDP data from US.
In Asia,
- Nikkei is down -0.35%.
- Hong Kong HSI is up 0.10%.
- China Shanghai SSE is down -0.35%.
- Singapore Strait Times is down -0.57%.
- Japan 10-year JGB yield is up 0.0002 at -0.024.
Overnight,
- DOW dropped -0.28%.
- S&P 500 dropped -0.05%.
- NASDAQ rose 0.07%.
- 10-year yield rose 0.057 to 2.693.
- 30-year yield rose 0.063 to 3.069.
The strong rally in 30-year yield is worth a note. TYX might have completed the consolidation from 3.109 and the rise from 2.900 low could be ready to resume. 55 day EMA is the immediate focus. But the real test will be on 38.2% retracement of 3.455 to 2.900 at 3.112. Surging yields could be the next driver in the forex markets
