Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Currencies in Asia-Pacific are a touch firmer in muted trading as investors remain sidelined ahead of Fed Chair Yellen’s outlook on U.S. monetary policy at Jackson Hole tomorrow.

• It’s hard for anyone to take significant positions as everyone is waiting for Yellen’s speech, Koji Fukaya, Tokyo- based CEO of FPG Securities, says
  • There’s growing speculation she may say something that may encourage investors to price more in rate hikes as market underestimates the probability
• Dollar index falls and U.S. 10-year yield steady at 1.556%
  • Probability of Fed’s rate hike in Sept. and Dec. is unchanged at 28% and 54% resp. on Aug. 24
• Chinese yuan firms after PBOC raises yuan fixing by 0.3% to 6.6602 from 6.6420 yesterday
  • 7-day repo rate declines after PBOC says there is no change to its monetary policy
  • China will properly use policy tools including differentiated reserve requirement ratio, PBOC Deputy Governor Chen says
  • PBOC sells 80b yuan of 14-Day reverse repo at 2.4% and 140b yuan of 7-day reverse repo at 2.25%
  • PBOC’s resumption of 14-day reverse repo sales doesn’t signal monetary policy is tightening, and probably won’t impact bond yields, according to Haitong Securities
  • PBOC met with banks on liquidity management; says current repos overly focused on overnight maturity and central bank is trying to add long-term money to mkt: MNI
  • Chinese economy will expand 6.5% in 3Q, according to latest results of a Bloomberg News survey of 56 economists conducted from Aug. 19 to Aug. 24
• Yen sticks in tight range ahead of Yellen tomorrow
  • USD/JPY’s MACD crosses upwardly above signal for the first time since July 11, rising toward zero; FX pair climbed 7.2% to reach a six-week high on July 21 after MACD rose above signal on July 11
  • While tapering of asset purchases would initially be negative for USD/JPY, its medium-term path would then be determined more by FOMC than BOJ, according to CA-CIB
  • Japanese investors bought a net 575.8b yen of overseas equities and bonds during seven days through Aug. 19, least in three weeks, according to finance ministry data
  • Mobius says helicopter money will be Japan’s next big experiment
• Aussie rises while Finance Minister Morrison warns on economy’s ‘uncommon predicament’
• Kiwi gains on macro demand, funds buying-the-break of Tuesday’s 0.7344 high, an Asia-based trader says
• New RBI governor Patel will face his first major test next month as an estimated $26b deposits raised from non-resident Indians in 2013 start to fall due
• EM Asia currencies rise with South Korea won leading gains
  • South Korea will manage household debt from “jeonse” rental and credit loans, and encourage borrowers to take out amortized loans, Finance Minister Yoo says
  • South Korea says FX swap isn’t on draft agenda of meeting with Japan
• Peso rises 0.1% to 46.48 per USD
  • Finance chief says PHP at 46-47 is what he prefers
  • June trade balance widened to -$2.1b compared to est. - $2.0b, prev. -$2.02b while imports accelerated 15.4% y/y vs est. of 13.8% y/y
• Indonesian rupiah is the only loser among EM Asian space
  • BI sees signs of falling consumer prices in Aug. and room to continue easing, Senior Deputy Governor Mirza Adityaswara says