Central banks resumed their fight against.....>

FOREX: Central banks resumed their fight against the coronavirus crisis,

dictating the tone of the Asia-Pac session. The RBNZ clipped the kiwi's wings

with a surprise decision to trim the OCR by 75bp to 0.25% & note that QE might

follow. NZD/USD showed at its lowest lvls in 11 years, with AUD/USD also

pressured. The Fed then stole the show, as Chair Powell at all deployed an

emergency policy mix, which included a 100bp rate cut & pledge to buy at least

$700bn of gov't securities. USD was offered after the Fed's announcement, but

pared losses amid continued haven demand. JPY outperformed in the G10 basket,

with USD/JPY having a look below Y106.00. The pair staged a rebound after the

BoJ said it will hold an emergency policy meeting today (it is underway as we

type). Sterling. Meanwhile, risk aversion spilled over into oil mkts, dragging

NOK to the bottom of the pile. It also kept a lid on other high-betas, with some

AUD sales seen as the RBA said it will unveil new policy steps Thursday.

- The yuan defied horrific Chinese activity indicators & fared better than USD.

Yet, IDR & MYR hit multi-yr lows vs. USD amid global & local Covid-19 worry.

- U.S. Empire M'fing Survey & Italian CPI are due later today.