Antipodean Pairs Under Pressure

The greenback has built on yesterday's gains in early trade, this has seen further pressure on Antipodean pairs. AUD/USD is around 14 pips lower, losing ground despite strong PMI figures. Elsewhere data showed Australia recorded a goods trade surplus of AUD 8.1bn last month, a 2% gain and the first time it has recorded three consecutive months above AUD 8bn.

• NZD has dipped below the 0.70 handle, 5-year interest rate swaps have plunged in response to government measures on housing bubbles which has taken the pressure off the RBNZ to act. NZ Feb trade surplus came in at NZ$181mn, matching expectations.
• JPY is slightly softer, data showed services PPI for February fell 0.1% Y/Y against an expected decline of 0.5%. Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.0 from 51.4 previously, while services also rose slightly to 46.5 but remains in contractionary territory. The slightly stale minutes from the BoJ meeting had no effect on the market.
• The PBOC fixed USD/CNY at 6.5228, 13 pips below sell side estimates. Offshore yuan is marginally weaker, USD.CNH up 6 pips at 6.5209 after climbing through the session on Tuesday. The yuan has suffered alongside a plunge in oil prices