The Global Macro Pulse

FX generated the main excitement in Asian trading, although equity markets generally fell. A statement by Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens that the AUD would likely fall further pushed AUDUSD down to 0.9516, taking NZDUSD down to 0.8274 with it. This sparked profit-taking in a range of dollar pairs, particularly cable, which eased off to 1.6095. In contrast, USDJPY fell slightly to 97.56. Led by the majors, almost all of USD-Asia is slightly higher with the total exceptions of USDKRW and USDTWD, which have dipped to 1060.63 and 29.418 respectively.

Mixed US markets overnight – the S&P was up 0.1%, but Nasdaq down 0.1% and weak US housing data pushed Asian equities lower. The Nikkei is down 0.3%, Shanghai is off 1.1%, and the HSI is down 0.1%. Only the Kospi is up, having risen 0.1%. S&P 500 futures are down 0.1%.

The US 10yr Treasury yield has risen about 2bps to 2.5206% while the 10yr JGB yield is down very slightly to 0.614%. Yields in EM Asia rates markets are generally up about 2bps, following Treasuries, but Indonesian yields have risen about 10bps.