It
was a subdued range-bound day across major FX ahead of the US market
holiday today, Monday. The NYSE and Nasdaq are both closed, as is the
bond market.
USD/JPY
traded higher to begin the session, topping out circa 134.50-odd
before slipping back to circa 134.30 as I post. EUR/USD drifted lower
initially before it too retraced somewhat. News flow was very sparse.
There were no data releases of note.
In
China we had the monthly setting of Loan Prime Rates. Last week we
had the latest medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) at an unchanged
rate. This was strongly suggestive of no change to the LPRs today,
and so it was.
The
1-Year Loan Prime Rate was left at 3.65% for the sixth month in a
row. Most new and outstanding loans in China are based on the
one-year LPR.
The
5-Year Loan Prime Rate was left at 4.30% for the sixth month in a
row. Most home mortgage rates are based on the five-year.
Stocks
in mainland China and Hong Kong rose.
North
Korea fired off two ballistic missile tests. The UN Security Council
will hold a meeting on the launches at 2000 GMT Monday (this is 3pm
US Eastern time).
Asian
equity markets:
-
Japan’s
Nikkei 225 flat -
China’s
Shanghai Composite +1% -
Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng +0.9% -
South
Korea’s KOSPI +0.4% -
Australia’s
S&P/ASX 200 +0.1%
USD/JPY: