Antipodeans Bring Up The Rear In Asia

Participants continue to headline watch ahead of the Christmas break. There hasn’t been much in the way of notable news flow to decipher since Asia-Pac trade got underway, outside of Singapore tightening international access over the next month or so. The city state has noted that it will freeze all new ticket sales for flights and buses under its programme for quarantine-free travel.

• NZD & AUD have ticked downwards (AUD/USD & NZD/USD are ~20 pips lower on the day), with S&P 500 & NASDAQ 100 e-minis a touch lower on the session. Note that e-minis are off worst levels (which were printed ahead of the Singapore travel headlines), while AUD & NZD already traded lower pre-Singapore news, so we can’t really suggest that the headlines were a driver of the aforementioned moves.
• USD/JPY has traded either side of Y114.00, last +5 pips or so on the day, printing Y114.15. Note the rate was capped on Tuesday as long end U.S. Tsy yields topped out on the back of a well-received round of 20-Year U.S. Tsy supply, with subsequent spill over observed in early Asia dealing, before modest weakness crept back into Tsys, supporting the cross. The Dec 15 high (Y114.26) continues to present the initial technical resistance level, with the 61.8% & 76.4% retracements of the Nov 24-30 downleg (Y114.38 & Y114.81) layered in above there. Initial support comes in at the Dec 17 low (Y113.14). Our technical analyst notes that a break of the aforementioned Dec 15 high would allay developing bearish concerns. Wednesday’s Asia-Pac session is bereft of any notable tier 1 data release, which will leave headline flow at the fore.
• The USD is marginally firmer vs. the remainder of its G10 peers.
• There aren’t any tier 1 risk events on the broader docket on Wednesday.