Asia Recap: Yen benefits from Shanghai sell-off

FXStreet (Bali) - The Japanese Yen was the main beneficiary of the risk off swings seen in Asian equities today, led by the Shanghai Composite, down over 5% at one stage, as regulators crack down on margin trading.

USD/JPY failed to extent past 117.70 resistance, with selling accelerating during Tokyo until bids sub 117.00 managed to absorb the downward pressure, although the rebound was virtually non-existent, with the pair settling just above the round number ahead of European trading.

AUD/USD came off its highs at 0.8240 with strong AUD/JPY sales on China equity woes resulting in a test of 0.82, taking out some light stops before a mild bounce towards 0.8210, where it stays. NZD/USD trading, meanwhile, was very subdued, with a tiny 15-2- pips range in play, limited by 0.78.

Main headlines in Asia

Swiss government has 'full confidence' in the SNB

Greece's Syriza expands lead

BoJ to monitor hedge fund's Yen influence closely

SNB to continue intervention if necessary, CHF very unattractive

ECB’s Knot sends strong hint QE around the corner

ECB’s Draghi briefed Merkel on QE plans

Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY): -1% (December) vs -3.8%

Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM): 3% (December) vs -0.6%

USD: Specs register a new record high - ANZ

China’s stocks drops over 5% after regulatory crackdown on margin trading

Japan Industrial Production (MoM): -0.5% (November) vs previous 0.4%

Japan Industrial Production (YoY) climbed from previous -0.8% to -0.5% in November

Japan Capacity Utilization fell from previous 0.7% to -0.8% in November