Forex and Bitcoin news for Asia trading Thursday 11 January 2018
- China says report of reduced UST buying could be based on wrong information
- FT reports: South Korea raids major cryptocurrency exchanges
- Doubling down on the trade of the decade
- Bitcoin losing a few bucks now as the South Korea crackdown news gains currency
- Bank of Japan JGB purchases today steady
- South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges raided by police, tax agencies
- Reports Mexico will Leave NAFTA if Trump triggers 6 mth process to withdraw
- Responses to the Australian retail sales data beat coming in
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 6.5147 (vs. yesterday at 6.5207)
- Japan press report government to delay primary budget surplus (to FY 2027)
- More bitcoin news: South Korean regulators are to shut down more crypto exchanges
- Heads up for a US Senate hearing on Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies with regulators
- Australia Retail Sales for November: +1.2% m/m (expected +0.4%)
- China Premier Li says he reckons GDP growth was 6.9% in 2017
- Australian retail sales data due at the bottom of the hour - previews
- Uh-oh ... this: "Brexit caused 37% fall in new London financial jobs in December"
- HSBC on the next support level for USD/JPY (spoiler: 110.84)
- US December inflation data due Thursday - PPI (ps. CPI follows on Friday) - preview
- China press (opinion piece) - two-way yuan flexibility should increase
- Comments on the yen surge and the BOJ - "prospects for JPY are far from rosy"
- Forexlive Americas FX news wrap. US to drop out of NAFTA. Canada thinks so (but US says "No").
- Trade ideas thread - Thursday 11 January 2018
- A 7th round of NAFTA talks is in the works (keep your February diary clear, K?)
- AUD traders - Australia retail sales data due today - more preview
- AUD traders - Australia data due today - preview of retail sales
- The string is over. Major stock indices close with modest declines.
- Economic calendar due from Asia today - BOJ back in action
- ANZ job advertisements December fell -0.3% vs. revised -0.3% decline last month
There were FX moves today, but i'll get to those - the far, far bigger mover was once again crypto, with Bitcoin down around 10%. The move came after two items of negative news out of South korea; first was that moves are in place shut down cryptocurrency trade and second that at least two exchanges (larger ones) had been raided Wednesday and Thursday:
As it happened:
- South Korean regulators are to shut down more crypto exchanges
- South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges raided by police, tax agencies
And, recap:
Bitcoin losing a few bucks now as the South Korea crackdown news gains currency
As you can see from the timings, it was a slow-burning story until it suddenly exploded (lower). Crypto traders who are not watching the news (ForexLive posts it as it happens) are doing themselves a disservice.
OK, currencies. From the top. The first market mover today (apart from some minor wiggles) was Australian data - November retail sales came in at a blow out beat
- Australia Retail Sales for November: +1.2% m/m (expected +0.4%)
- Responses to the Australian retail sales data beat coming in
This data point had been very disappointing in past months (for many, many months) so the strong beat was welcomed. AUD/USD was marked up toward circa 0.7870 and it managed a few points higher in following hours to just over 0.7880. The data is a good headline, but there are caveats (isn't there always?) - check out the bullets above for more.
The next market mover were comments out of China government officials that the reports the country was pulling back on US Treasuries purchases could be based on wrong information, It was a hedged denial of the overnight reports, but it had some impact, the USD gained a small bid as the news hit.
USD/JPY has net traded a few points to the better after a sad and sorry 48 hours odd. USD/JPY is up 40 or so points from its early session low. (ps. BOJ JGB purchases today were maintained at a steady pace, perhaps to avoid putting a further scare into yen shorts).
EUR/USD had been edging a little higher but the China announcement saw it drip back to be pretty much unchanged on the session as I post.
As previously mentioned, AUD/USD is higher, it slipped a little on the China news but has come back to be just off its session high as I write. NZD/USD is little net changed on the day.
USD/CHF is a little higher, while GBP/USD a little lower, both reflecting the China news and its impact on the USD also.
