ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: USD lost some ground, USD/JPY back towards 148.80

• Nikkei and Hang Seng the stars in regional equities today
• RBA Governor Bullock’s comment that its ‘premature’ to think about rate cuts helping AUD
• JP Morgan still tipping 100bp of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate cuts in 2024
• China to toughen rules monitoring movement of people and goods from regions with monkeypox
• Reserve Bank New Zealand Governor Orr: Strong confidence inflation is back in 1 – 3% range
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.1464 (vs. estimate at 7.1739)
• One month to go (until the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate cut)
• Singapore Non-oil Domestic Exports (NODX) July 2024: +12.2% m/m vs. +2.2% expected
• Concerns of an escalation in the Middle East remain overblown re elevated crude oil prices
• RBNZ’s Silk says the Bank is taking a measured approach to rate cuts
• Taiwan Magnitude 6.1 earthquake rocks capital Taipei
• RBA’s Bullock says underlying inflation remains too high
• Venezuelan President Maduro rejects US, Brazil criticism
• New Zealand Q2 PPI Output +1.1% q/q (expected 0.6%) and inputs +1.4% q/q (expected 0.5%)
• New Zealand July Manufacturing PMI 44.0 (prior 41.1)
• China has built the world’s largest offshore oil platform
• Bank of America on Powell speaking at Jackson Hole – to keep aggressive easing option open
• Harris plans tax breaks for builders constructing houses for 1st time buyers, 3m new homes
• The People’s Bank of China has switched up its main policy rate to watch
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: US dollar soars after stronger retail sales
• Federal Reserve Chair Powell to speak at 10am US Eastern time on August 23
• Trade ideas thread – Friday, 16 August, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas

There
was no news nor data from Japan today of relevance for the yen. JPY
has been volatile enough not to need much to move, and today was no
different. USD/JPY fell from highs above 149.25 to around 148.80.

The
USD was weaker pretty much across the major’s board. Ranges were not
large.

Data
from New Zealand was notable. Q2 PPIs both rose from Q1, and above
expectations. NZD/USD rallied back above 0.6000.

From
Australia we had parliamentary testimony from Reserve Bank of
Australia Governor Bullock and a group of her senior officials.
Bullock
reiterated that
while the RBA judges that
monetary
policy is sufficiently restrictive, inflation
remains too high and its too early to be thinking about rate
cuts.
AUD/USD ticked higher to just over 0.6625.

EUR,
GBP, CAD, and CHF all gained against the US dollar (again,
ranges were small only).

Regional
equities rose following a strong Wall Street performance. The Nikkei
also liked the drop lower for the yen on Thursday.

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