Talking Points:
- Anti-risk Japanese Yen gains as Asia Pacific stocks echo Wall Street selloff
- Australian Dollar down as RBA hints it is in no hurry to raise interest rates
- Sentiment may flip if Fed’s Bullard hints stock selloff might delay tightening
The Japanese Yen outperformed in Asia Pacific trade as regional shares plunged, echoing a brutal selloff on Wall Street and offering a familiar lift to the anti-risk currency. The MSCI Asia Pacific equities benchmark suffered the largest one-day drop since August 2015, trading down as much as 4.2 percent.
The Australian Dollar fell after the RBA signaled it is in no hurry to raise rates. Markets have speculated Governor Lowe and company will join a global hawkish policy shift as global growth accelerates. The New Zealand Dollar corrected higher, retracing some of yesterday’s losses.
Looking ahead, a quiet offering of scheduled event risk out of Europe and the US seems likely to keep sentiment trends at the forefront. Futures tracking the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 stock benchmarks are pointing firmly lower, hinting that risk-off trade dynamics are likely to carry forward.
A public appearance by St. Louis Fed President James Bullard may turn the tide however. He will almost certainly opine on recent volatility in the context of FOMC rate hike intentions. If his remarks allow markets to entertain the possibility that the selloff may delay tightening, the market mood may flip.
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Asia Pacific Trading Session
European Trading Session
** All times listed in GMT. See the full DailyFX economic calendar here.
--- Written by Ilya Spivak, Currency Strategist for DailyFX.com
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