ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: USD/JPY back below 155.00, Bitcoin above 96K

The
US dollar lost some ground during the Asia session with a higher EUR,
AUD, CHF and, most notably, JPY.

There
was little news nor data out of Japan to account for the drop in
USD/JPY from its high in early trade above 155.50 to lows circa
154.90. We
did get a rumour of the size of the government fiscal package, NHK
(Japan’s national broadcaster) saying around 21.9 trillion yen
(circa 141bn USD equivalent).

We heard from Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins
after the US cash (equity) close. Collins was non-committal on her
December FOMC view. In brief:

  • Some
    additional rate cuts needed.
  • Policy
    still restrictive.
  • Doesn’t
    want to cut rates too quickly.
  • Overly
    slow rate cuts could hurt the labour market.
  • Final
    destination of rate cuts is unclear.

No
such indecision from the People’s Bank of China at today’s
USD/CNY reference rate setting. The Bank sought to prop up the yuan
again, setting
the mid-rate about
550
points lower than the modelled
estimate of 7.2482.
The PBoC is seeking to support
the
yuan by
damping
USD/CNY gains.

For
tech traders,
the US Department of Justice has
asked a judge to make Google divest Chrome browser, along with other
punitive measures. This was foreshadowed in the days leading up to
today.

Bitcoin
rose
above USD96,000

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

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