Asian currencies fell versus USD almost without exception; only the Chinese yuan's resilience was notable.
The USD/CNY fixing was 6.1563, just 0.05% above Friday's level despite the steep rise in USD/majors since then.
Presumably the huge $60.6bn trade surplus China reported in Feb played a role in yuan outperformance.
Westpac notes as follows in a report on Monday:
- The largest declines on the day were as expected: the high beta currencies that only traded via NDFs when the US employment report was released. KRW was -1.1%, MYR -1.0%, INR -0.8% and IDR -0.7% in the Asian afternoon.
- There was some small extension of the initial USD gains, e.g. spot USD/KRW gapped from 1099 to 1110, range traded for a while and then extended to 1112. USD/SGD re-tested its late NY highs around 1.3820. Regional equities also took their cue from New York, with most markets about 1% lower.
