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Asia Roundup: Japanese yen trades flat despite higher than expected CPI, unemployment data; gold hits fresh 3-week high at $1,279 mark, Asian markets mixed -Tuesday, Dec 26, 2017

Market Roundup

  • Japan Nov core CPI +0.9% y/y, Tokyo Dec core +0.8%, +0.8% and +0.7% eyed.
     
  • Japan Nov unemployment 2.7%, job-applicants ratio 1.56, best since Jan ’74.
     
  • Japan Nov household spending +2.1% m/m, +1.7% y/y, +1.2% and +0.5% eyed.
     
  • Japan Nov corporate service price index +0.1% m/m, +0.8% y/y at 104.1.
     
  • Japan PM Abe urges firms to raise wages by 3 pct or more.
     
  • BOJ Miyanoya - BOJ policy undoubtedly affecting bank profits.
     
  • BOJ Kuroda - Must watch for excessive risk-taking in markets.
     
  • Mutual funds topping Y1 trln now absent in Japan – Nikkei.
     
  • China lifts yuan midpoint to 3-1/2-month high
     
  • China needs Detroit-style bankruptcy as debt problems remain – Central bank official.
     
  • Bitcoin rises more than 10 percent on Bitstamp.

Economic Data Ahead

  • (0630 ET/1130 GMT) Turkey capacity utilisation, manufacturing confidence data.

Key Events Ahead

  • No major events were scheduled for the day.

FX Recap

USD: The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, edged down 0.1 percent to 93.253.

EUR/USD: The euro was steady at $1.1871. The single currency gave up some ground last week after Catalan separatists won a regional election, deepening Spain's political crisis in a sharp rebuke to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and European Union leaders who backed him. Pair made intraday high at $1.1871 and low at $1.1867 levels. A sustained close above $1.1874 is requires for the upside rally. Alternatively, reversal from key resistance will take the parity down towards $1.1717.

USD/JPY: The yen held flat in early Asia and was currently trading around 113.29 mark. A sustained close above 113.31 is required to take the parity higher towards key resistances around 113.75, 114.17, 115.37 and 117.42 marks. Alternatively, a daily close below 113.30 will drag the parity down towards 112.84, 111.45, 109.23, 108.12 and 107.50 marks respectively. Minutes of the BOJ's October meeting, released on Tuesday, showed most members shared the view that the central bank should maintain its easy policy.

GBP/USD:  The pound was also flat against the dollar at $1.3372 mark. Against the euro the pound recovered and was flat at 0.8876. Intraday bias remains neutral as UK banks will be closed in observance of Boxing Day.

AUD/USD: The Australian dollar trades marginally higher and trading in a narrow range against U.S. dollar. Australian banks will be closed in observance of Boxing Day.

NZD/USD: The New Zealand dollar steadied above $0.7030 to stay within striking distance of a two-month high of $0.7035 set last week. New Zealand banks will be closed in observance of Boxing Day.

Equities Recap

Markets in Australia and Hong Kong remained closed after Monday's Christmas holiday.

Shanghai composite index to open down 0.1 pct at 3,277.84 points and China's CSI300 index to open flat at 4,040.62 points.

Tokyo's Nikkei share average opens down 0.07 pct at 22,922.95.

Taiwan stock was trading around 0.84 pct lower at 10,433.87 points.

South Korea’s Kospi was trading 0.25 percent higher at 2,446.32 points.

India’s NSE Nifty was trading around 0.04 percent lower at 10,490.95 points and BSE Sensex was trading at 0.06 percent higher 33,960.28 points.

Commodities Recap

Oil prices were stable on Tuesday, with Brent crude lingering near 2015 highs on the back of an outlook for healthy demand amid ongoing production cuts led by OPEC and Russia. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.50 a barrel at 0141 GMT, up 3 cents from their last settlement. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $65.25 a barrel, unchanged from their last close, but near the $65.83 per barrel briefly on Dec. 12 - the highest since June 2015.

Gold prices edged up on Tuesday in low-volume trade to more than three-week highs, helped by a weaker dollar. Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,278.06 per ounce at 0252 GMT, after hitting its highest since December 1 at $1,279.05. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,282.50 an ounce.

Treasuries Recap

10-year U.S. treasury yield held at 2.491 percent vs U.S. close of 2.488 percent on Friday.

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