ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: ETH rising

• China launched a US$47bn state-backed fund to boost the country’s semiconductor industry.
• China, Japan and South Korean leaders met today in Seoul
• South Korea official says hopes to partially remove short-selling ban in June
• BOJ’s Uchida says “we have overcome the zero lower bound”
• Switzerland approves tech to slash amount of radioactive waste from atomic power plants
• China Industrial Profits April 2024 +4.0% y/y (prior +4.3%)
• China’s leader Xi Jinping will attend China-Arab Forum on May 30, give keynote speech
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.1091
• Ex-BoJ Masai says Bank has room to hike to 0.5% by year end if conditions remain unchanged
• Deutsche Bank on US: risk to growth to topside, risk to inflation to downside. Bullish.
• Bank of Japan Governor Ueda says some challenges are uniquely difficult for the Bank
• ICYMI – Nvidia slashed the price of its most-advanced chip made for China
• OPEC+ has delayed its June meeting, and switched it to online (from Vienna)
• Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation data is released this week, expected to have slowed
• The G7 Communique gave vague support to Japan to prop up the yen
• Weekend – ECB’s Cipollone said recent data flow supportive of dialling back interest rates
• Reminder – Monday is a US market holiday – here is what is open and when
• Bill Gross on a Trump win – higher government spending, higher deficits, higher rates
• More on Goldman Sachs shifting their Federal Reserve rate cut forecast
• Trade ideas thread – Monday, 27 May, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas
• Weekly Market Outlook (27-31 May)
• Yen traders heads up – Japan finance minister Suzuki denies bilateral meeting with Yellen
• ECB’s Panetta adds to the chorus for a June a rate cut – “general consensus has emerged”
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap 24 May; USD moves higher. Nasdaq &S&P gain for 5th week

It
was a subdued session for
major FX
in Asia. USD/JPY
did dribble a little lower. We had remarks from finance minister
Suzuki and Bank of Japan Governor Ueda over the weekend and then
again today from Ueda and Deputy governor of the Bank of Japan
Shinichi Uchida. None of these were really impactful but Ueda’s remarks on anchoring inflation expectations to a higher level seems to have given the yen
a very slight lift.

Gold
rallied on the session, back to its Friday high. On the crypto front
ETH is higher, carrying on from its good ETF news last week.

News
flow was very light, and data flow also. China’s industrial profit
data remained solid in April, the January – April data coming in at
+4.3% y/y the same as the January – March YTD period. The profit
data shows that its not just volume being achieved at Chinese
industrial enterprises, but profits also. This is good news for the
investment cycle and promises growth ahead compared with a situation
where profits were difficult to come by. While on China, the country
launched a US$47bn state-backed fund to boost the semiconductor
industry.

South
Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the first high-level
trilateral meeting in four years. The communications out of the
summit are fairly saccharine and non-controversial, encouraging
reviving trade and security dialogues, and perhaps to begin work
towards a three-party free trade agreement.

As
a reminder, ICYMI, today is a UK and US market holiday.

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