November 18, 2024 05:35 GMT
ASIA FX: USD/Asia Pairs Mixed To Start The Week
ASIA FX
Asian currencies have had a reasonably quiet start to the week. Outside of some firmer price action in the won in the first part of trade, we have largely tracked recent ranges in most USD/Asia pairs.
- Spot USD/KRW got to lows of 1387.9 in the first part of dealing, just short of the 20-day EMA support point. Local equities surged at the open, post Samsung buy back news from late last week. The Kospi sits off best levels but is still 1.70% higher. Offshore investors have still sold local shares today. The pair last sat back at 1393.5, still up 0.35% for the session. Earlier headlines crossed that the BoK/NPS would likely extend their swap agreement, which was another won positive.
- Spot USD/CNH has crept higher as the session progressed. We were last near 7.2455, but still well within recent ranges. The softer yen backdrop hasn't helped CNH. The fixing bias has remained skewed against yuan depreciation pressures as well.
- Spot USD/THB sits lower, last near 34.76. Earlier the pair got to 34.72. A slightly stronger than expected Q3 GDP print helped sentiment. We saw growth rise 1.2%q/q, versus 0.8% forecast. Still the positive impact on THB was only fleeting.
- USD/MYR is slightly lower, last under 4.4700, positive onshore economic sentiment helping. Recent highs were marked at 4.4913.
- In Singapore we saw slower export growth for Oct. This is likely to continue to see calls for easing in early 2025 from the MAS. USD/SGD remains off recent highs but is finding support near 1.3400, the pair last near 1.3430/35.
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