ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: A quieter weekend for geopolitics, ‘risk’ up Monday

• Gold has been hit lower on Monday in Asia
• Vietnam’s Central Bank is to cancel Monday’s gold auction due to a lack of interest
• BMO forecast a rate cut from the Bank of Canada, but trim back on the number of cuts
• Allianz Global Investors see USD/JPY likely as high as 158, but wary of intervention risk
• There are no speakers from the US Federal Reserve due today, FOMC Blackout period
• PBOC Loan Prime Rates (LPR) remain unchanged at today’s rate setting, as expected
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 7.1043 (vs. estimate at 7.2359)
• South Korean trade intensity increased in the first 20 days of April
• US-China trade war ramping up: China slaps a 43% tariff on widely-used US chemical
• UK Rightmove House Price Index +1.1% m/m in April (prior + 1.5%)
• ICYMI: Morgan Stanley forecast 75 bp or rate cuts from the European Central Bank in 2024
• Tesla slashed prices in the US, Europe and China over the weekend
• Bank of Japan Governor Ueda says Bank will cut back on buying JGBs “irrespective” of data
• IMF’s Gopinath says high U.S. deficits fueling demand, global growth, higher rates & USD
• ICYMI – Bitcoin halving took place over the weekend
• ECB’s Villeroy says Middle East stress should not delay June rate cut, with more to follow
• Trade ideas thread – Monday, 22 April, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas
• Monday morning open levels – indicative forex prices – 22 April 2024
• Newsquawk Week Ahead: Highlights include US PCE & GDP, BoJ, PMI data
• Weekly Market Outlook (22-26 April)
• Swiss National Bank Chair Jordan says monetary policy should remained focused on inflation
• The weekend FX technical report for the week starting April 22, 2024
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: Six days losing streak for the S&P 500

US
equity index futures, AUD/USD, and NZD/USD all gained ground during
the session, EUR, GBP and CAD rose against the USD also, but to not
quite the same extent. Gold
traded

lower (sharply), as
did oil as geopolitical
tensions eased in the Middle East.

News
and data flow was limited. We did hear from Governor of the Bank of
France and European Central Bank Governing Council member Francois
Villeroy de Galhau, speaking in an interview with French media, Les
Echos over the weekend. He expressed further confidence in a June
rate cut from the Bank (see bullets above for more).

While
on central banks, the People’s Bank of China set its one- and
five-year Loan Prime Rates (LPRs) today. The rates were left
unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95% respectively, as widely expected. The
improvement in Chinese economic data witnessed in past weeks has
diminished thoughts of further stimulus to come, at the margin.

USD/JPY
didn’t plot out much of a range today, steadying under 155.00.

The Bitcoin halving took place over the week.

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