ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Australian data poor again

• AUD traders heads up – RBA (Hunter) speaking on Wednesday
• South Korean stock markets to close for a temporary holiday (October 1)
• Two items to watch in China’s trade balance data due soon
• Australian August business confidence -4 vs. prior +1
• South Korea warn that rapid pick-up in household debt may turn into systemic risk.
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 7.1136 (vs. estimate at 7.1140)
• Australian Westpac Consumer Confidence Index (September 2024) 84.6 (prior 85.0)
• ECB eyes rate cut amid weakening outlook – preview of the September 12 meeting
• Japan PM contender Kato wants folks to have higher wages
• Morgan Stanley on US equities at risk from a further unwinding of yen-funded carry trades
• More on the failed changes at the Reserve Bank of Australia
• Sales for New Zealand’s manufacturing sector improved in Q2
• Goldman Sachs on 3 reasons China’s economy is going to trun better
• The changes proposed for the Board of the RBA have failed
• Fed to halve biggest banks’ capital hike in latest Basel plan, from 19% to 9%
• A recession will engulf Europe early next year
• It “wouldn’t take much for the Fed to be behind the curve”, then “a string of 50bp cuts”
• Barclays rule out a 50bp FOMC rate cut in September, see 3 consecutive 25bp rate cuts
• ICYMI – Morgan Stanley have cut its oil price forecast again, see Brent @ $75 / bbl in Q4
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: US dollar firms further and risk rebounds
• Trade ideas thread – Tuesday, 10 September, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas

Yen
crosses were on the move again today, with USD/JPY trading up to just
above 143.50. We didn’t have much in the way of news nor data out
of Japan. We did get comments from Katsunobu Kato, Japan’s former
health minister and a candidate running in the ruling

party
leadership race. He called for a fresh stimulus package to fund
spending to boost domestic investment and capex. Also said Japan must
double households’ income by promoting wage hikes. Double? Really?
While correlation is not causation this was in the midst of the yen
falling today. What a weird thing to say/promise. Politicians, eh?
Kato added that Japan is on the verge of emerging from deflation.

From
Australia today was plenty of woeful data:

• consumer
  sentiment slumped from an already poor level
• business
  confidence and conditions slumped also

If
there was a glimmer of light in the data it was mixed results on
inflation indications in the business survey. Growth in labour costs
eased back. But purchase cost growth accelerated in the quarter, as
did retail prices.

Apart
from the yen major FX was bound in small ranges only.

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.