The more hawkish than expected FOMC has led equities to sell off across the board in Asia. Although the Nikkei opened up, it is down about 1.5% at the time of writing. The Hang Seng Index has fallen 1.1%, Kospi is down 0.9%, and S&P futures are off 0.3%. Chinese equities have been the exception, with the Shanghai Comp rising 0.4%, seemingly in response to press reports that the Chinese government will introduce measures to support growth.The EUR and JPY traded flat after weakening against the USD overnight in the wake of the FOMC announcements. EURUSD is at 1.3831 and USDJPY is trading 102.30. AUDUSD is at 0.9022, slightly lower than its open.In contrast, all EM Asia currencies have weakened against the dollar, spurred both by the FOMC and China fixing USDCNY 109pips higher to 6.1460. Oil companies seem to be buying USDCNY onshore, pushing it to 6.2199 and widening the CNY/CNH gap. USDIDR has led amongst EM Asia, rising 0.9% to 11,423, followed by increases of 0.5% in USDMYR and USDPHP to 3.2944 and 45.060. USDKRW is up 0.4% to 1075.35.
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Credit Suisse