Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Majority of currencies in region advance as dollar heads lower for fourth session; China May exports in line with forecast, while imports beat expectations, boosting Aussie.

• USD/Asia is still heavy as dollar continues to soften, while PBOC’s yuan fixing little changed today, so reaction limited, ANZ FX strategist Irene Cheung says
• Dollar Index -0.08%, extending decline to fourth day
• China May trade surplus at $49.98b vs $55.70b est. and $45.56b in April; exports -4.1% y/y vs est. -4.0% and -1.8% prior; imports -0.4% y/y vs -6.8% est., -10.9% in April
  • Yuan edges higher, set for first day’s gain this week; PBOC strengthens CNY fixing by 0.04%, smallest move either way since May 31
  • Central bank chief economist Ma Jun says yuan pricing mechanism is increasingly transparent and currency is flexible vs basket
  • U.S., China at close of Strategic & Economic Dialogue yday reiterate pledge not to target FX rates and to refrain from competitive devaluation; China says no basis for sustained depreciation of yuan
  • Chinese govt maintains 6.8% 2016 GDP growth est.
  • AIIB to announce first investments on June 24: China Daily
• Yen strengthens a second day, up vs all G-10 peers as probability of June hike by Fed evaporates; Nikkei 225 falls
  • Japan’s revised 1Q GDP +1.9% annualized, same as est.; World Bank lowers Japan economic growth outlook to 0.5% from 1.3%
  • BOJ expected to ease in June or July, survey shows: Nikkei
  • Purchases of Canadian govt bonds by Japanese investors at 10-yr high in April; China purchased record 2.2t yen ($20.6b) Japanese short-term debt in April: analysis
• Aussie strengthens after Chinese trade data, erasing some losses as Australian exports to China grow
  • April home-loan approvals rose 1.7% m/m vs est. +2.5%
  • AUD/USD unlikely to strengthen much more, BNP Paribas says in note dated June 7; minimal short positioning heading into RBA decision yday and only 50% probability of rate cut by Aug. priced in
• Ringgit set to snap three-day gain; Moody’s withdraws rating on $1.75b worth of 1MDB Energy notes; 1MDB says its liquidity is strong after Moody’s action
  • Foreign reserves at $97.3b as of May 31
• Rupiah rises to one-month high; Indonesia’s FX reserves fell to $103.6b in May from $107.7b in April
  • Finance commission agrees on macroeconomic assumptions in proposed 2016 budget revisions: GDP growth of 5.1%, CPI +4%; rupiah avg 13,500/USD
• Peso rises to highest in seven weeks; international funds bought net $53m of local equities yday, biggest inflow since May 26: exchange data
• Thai baht edges lower after six straight days of gains, even as global investors bought net 32.2b baht ($914m) in local bonds yday, most since Sept. 2013, according to TBMA data