Stuck Under 1.32

After dropping through 1.32 late yesterday USD/SGD has challenged the level and failed twice, the pair last down 5 pips at 1.3191, near its lowest levels in three years. The next technical challenge is the 2021 low at 1.3180, while the 2020 low is at 1.3159, if the rate were to look underneath 1.3158 it would be the lowest since April 2018.

• An OCBC report doing the rounds posited that SGD is 0.46% above the NEER midpoint which could imply limited downside for USD/SGD. The MAS uses the Singapore dollar's nominal effective exchange rate as its main policy tool rather than interest rates. Official S$NEER figures from the MAS would appear to contradict this, the index last sits around 126 but was as high as 127 in mid-2020.
• Fig.1 MAS monetary policy stance and S$NEER level, certical dashed lines (------) indicate changes to the settings of the S$NEER policy band

• Elsewhere, Singapore has received its first shipment of Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccine, despite the inoculation not been authorised for use in the city state. Sinovac has started submitting initial data which allowed Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to get interim authorisation.