ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Oil traded lower

News

Despite the weekend Middle East escalation oil dropped lower on the reopening for
the week in European and US Sunday evening/Monday morning Asia trade.
It managed to retrace much of its opening loss, not all, and as I post
is dribbling back to the downside again.

Major
forex rates were relatively subdued. USD/JPY had a 30 or so point
range, held in check by the imminent Bank of Japan statement due
around this time tomorrow. AUD/USD caught a bid after much better
than expected m/m retail sales growth, the quickest since January,
and firming the prospects for a November 7 Reserve Bank of Australia
rate hike. NZD/USD tracked Oz higher. The Australian government
walked away from a potential FTA with the EU after negotiations
stalled over insurmountable sticking points. AUD/USD shrugged this
off.

Asian
equity markets:

  • Japan’s
    Nikkei 225 -1.2%

  • China’s
    Shanghai Composite -0.3%

  • Hong
    Kong’s Hang Seng -0.5%

  • South
    Korea’s KOSPI +0.4%

  • Australia’s
    S&P/ASX 200 -0.4%

(This
chart is from our charting app, which is free and can
be found at this link
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