NZD Underperforms, Some Yen Demand Ahead Of Tokyo Fix

The BBDXY is sitting near 1223.50 currently, close to NY closing levels. Most focus has been on the antipodeans post the NZ jobs data, although JPY is slightly firmer heading into the Tokyo fix. In the cross asset space, US equity futures are lower, with Nasdaq futures off -0.50% at this stage, which is offsetting some of the positive impulse from higher regional equities. US cash Tsy yields are a touch higher at this stage.

• NZD/USD continues to underperform, the pair last around 0.6430/35, slightly above session lows. Yesterday's lows came in just under 0.6415, while we sat around 0.6465 prior to the employment data.
• This data showed an uptick in the unemployment rate and slightly softer than expected employment growth. Sell-side analysts are moving towards a 50bps hike for the Feb RBNZ meeting (down from 75bps previously expected). Yield momentum continues to wane for NZD, the 2yr NZ-US swap spread now back to +51bps.
• AUD/USD is slightly lower, down at 0.7050, while the AUD/NZD cross is above 1.0960, just off session highs above 1.0970.
• Yen is seeing dome demand into the Tokyo fix, with the pair last near 129.85/90. EUR/USD is unchanged, currently in the 1.0860/65 range.
• Still to come is the Caixin China PMI.