It’s been a good day for the AUD and the USD, less than optimal day for the JPY and NZD.
The AUD was supported after a hotter-than-expected CPI print and markets seeing about a 60% change of a hike at the September meeting and 74% odds of a hike by November.
The USD’s move was more interesting, and could have received some help from the upside in treasury yields. However, with the recent batch of data out of the US, I am putting the USD strength down to month-end and quarter-end related flows.
At the bottom of the pack was the JPY, which continued to lose ground throughout the session and forcing USDJPY into fresh 4 decade highs. Eyes will be focused on possible intervention from the Japan.
For the NZD, we did have some negative comments on the economy from the NZ treasury early during yesterday’s Asia-Pac session, but not sure whether those comments fully explain the amount of weakness though. The currency has struggled to keep it’s momentum following the more hawkish-than-expected policy decision we had in May.
Currency strength chart