Forex news for Asia trading on Friday 30 July 2021

There were minor swings for currencies against the USD during the session and overall not a lot of net change. USD/JPY and EUR/USD are little changed on the session while cable is down just a touch. AUD/USD and NZD/USD also in the 'little changed' basket.

USD/CAD tracked as high as just over 1.2470 before coming back down to be also little changed as I update circa 1.2450.

The People's Bank of China slashed the USD/CNY mid-rate by the most since late in 2020 with a 340 point drop from yesterday's mid-rate to today's. Authorities in China once again took action on prices, this time announcing some fertiliser firms had been instructed to suspend exports.

In regional equities both HK's Hang Seng and China's Shanghai Composite lost ground. Nikkei also. None were assisted by the after (US) hours move in Amazon which dropped on earnings.

On the coronavirus news front:

  • The Philippines capital region Manila is to be placed in lockdown measures from August 6, authorities there citing the spread of the Delta variant. Travel bans to 10 countries have been extended also.
  • The new case count in Sydney fell in the preceding 24 hours (see bullets above).
  • Japan will declare a state of emergency in three prefectures surrounding Tokyo. Osaka also.

Coming up later today and over the weekend are:

  • Data for the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation
  • 2 Fed speakers
  • US China's official PMIs

(see bullets above for details on these).

Have a great weekend all! Could be some sport on the telly this weekend ... Can China be caught?

Forex news for Asia trading onFriday30July 2021