Asia Recap: Caution in FX post SNB black swan aftermath

FXStreet (Bali) - The dust finally settled in Asia, following the SNB tsunami that led to all market participants, without exception - other than Mr. Jordan and those within the SNB -, perplexed by the aggressive policy move to remove the EUR/CHF 1.20 peg.

USD/JPY buyers managed to hold the 116.00 level after two failed attempts to break through the psychological level. After an early run for stops sub 116.00 at the NY close, a bounce towards 116.55 session high followed, only for the same movie to repeat again, with Tokyo retesting the 115.88/90 lows before a rebound to 116.35/40. There are stops rumored sub 115.90, market sources suggest. Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 tracked losses from US equities, declining over 1.6% heading into the close, underpinning Yen.

AUD/USD built up on recent gains, allowing a new test of mid-round 0.8250 level, where some weak stops were triggered before price entered an accumulation phase limited down by 0.8220, with bulls aiming to maintain control of technicals, with current price action constructive as long as the ascending trendline coming from Jan 14 low is not violated. Note, in Asia today, the bounce off 0.8190 at the NY close came after a third test of the mentioned trendline.

NZD/USD played catch up with the Aussie, following the stellar Kiwi performance on Thursday, with strong flows finding a temporary shelter on the NZD semi-haven status amid the chaos that reigned in the market during the removal of the EUR/CHF protective cap.

EUR/CHF, was also the protagonist in the early stages of Asia, with the pair collapsing over 300 pips from parity down towards sub 0.97 levels before recovering the 1.01 handle, with talk of the SNB having to intervene to stabilize the rout in the pair.

Main headlines in Asia

Japan Tertiary Industry Index (MoM) registered at 0.2%, below expectations (0.3%) in November

Japan Foreign investment in Japan stocks declined to ¥-684.4B in January 9 from previous ¥-40.7B

Japan Foreign bond investment up to ¥455.1B in January 9 from previous ¥19.7B

ECB’s Coeure: Weaker-than-expected growth requires a response

Greek banks requesting ELA

Chinese hedge funds behind massive copper sell-off this week

PBOC increases relending quota by 50bn yuan

SNB to intervene in USD/CHF next? - SocGen

AUD/JPY faces stiff resistance at 5-DMA

The Australian dollar rebounded versus the Japanese yen in the Asian session, snapping four consecutive days of losses as Aussie extended gains as oil prices stalled their downtrend.
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USD/CHF might undergo further correction – SG

Analysts at Societe Generale, expect USD/CHF correction to continue towards 0.75 and even 0.70 levels.
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