Asia forex is well underway, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong are all up and running. The gyrations and plunge in oil to sub zero (May CL) overnight are the subject of some concern, seeing some demand for US dollars here.
Blogs
Singapore police have opened an investigation into oil trader $4bn collapse
Oil news again, the firm said to have debts circa 4bn USD (see link below) Investigation related to this: – more to come See here for global coronavirus case data
US indices close lower and near session lows
Worst day since April 1 The major US stock indices snap day to day winning streak with declines across the board today. The downside was led by the Dow industrial average which fell by -592 points. The NASDAQ index fared the best today but was still lower by -1.03%.
Forex option expiries for Tuesday April 21 at the 10am NY cut
Just USD/JPY notable today – Strike price 106.80 for USD 645m – and 107.05 for USD 730m See here for global coronavirus case data
ECB's Panetta: Europe needs a joint fiscal response
Comments by ECB board member, Fabio Panetta – Asymmetric response to the virus risks political spillover – Failure to act will amplify ultimate taxpayer costs Panetta seems to be serving a bit of a national agenda with the remarks above, ahead of the meeting between European leaders this Thursday to discuss more about how to […]
RBA's Lowe: Current rates likely to remain for a few years
Lowe reaffirms that low rates will stay for a very long period of time – Wage pressures will continue to slow – It will be a couple of years to return to current growth See here for global coronavirus case data
RBA's Lowe: Not seeing signs of any stress in Australian financial system
Lowe is in the Q&A session of his speech now – Banks have access to all the liquidity that they need – Super industry does not need RBA liquidity support as of yet See here for global coronavirus case data
RBA's Lowe: Will outline potential economic scenarios in May SOMP
Just something to take note of here As for the SOMP next month, the fact that Lowe points out 'scenarios' with an 's' inside goes to show that central banks are also just doing the best they can with the limited set of information in making 'reasonable' assumptions of the economy.
RBA's Lowe: Our actions should not be confused with financing the government
Comments by RBA governor, Philip Lowe – Monetary response is keeping funding costs low – Will continue to adjust bond, repo operations as required to support liquidity See here for global coronavirus case data
NZD grinding lower following RBNZ Gov Orr monetisation comment)
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Orr earlier: NZD is seeing offers: NZD had already been under some selling pressure but it increased after that remark from Orr. Monetisation of government debt is not something that inspires confidence in markets. Central banks have been accused of doing so, especially in the era of big QE, […]