APAC major FX traded in limited ranges awaiting testimony from Federal Reserve System Chair Powell on Tuesday (11 January 2022 US time (see bullets above)).
EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, CAD are all slghtly firmer against the USD while USD/JPY has managed a 20 or so point gain. Yen crosses are thus higher on the session.
Coronavirus response news out of China was in the news, with the small outbreaks in various regions leading to various levels of lockdowns or not-quite-full-lockdowns. The ‘zero-COVID’ China response is still well and truly in place.
Data today was from Australia with a huge rise m/m in retail sales – the data was for November 2021 as Sydney and Melbourne emerged from lockdowns. More recent data related to retail activity since the Omicron outbreak is not so encouraging but will not get that data for a good few months in the future.
Late US afternoon news that Federal Reserve Vice Chair Clarida is resigning two weeks early, January 14 instead of January 31. Questions are current surrounding Clarida’s trading activity in markets while Vice-Chair.
As I post news is crossing that EU parliament president David Sassoli has died.
AUD/JPY higher on the session: