Yen Firmer In Asia, Credit Suisse Takes Action to Strengthen Liquidity

JPY is the standout performer in the G-10 space at the margins today in Asia. News that Credit Suisse would shore up its liquidity via a CHF50bn loan from SNB, and buy back debt securities of up to CHF3bn, saw US and European equity futures rise and the USD marginally pressured.

• USD/JPY prints at ¥132.60/70 down ~0.6%. The pair is mostly following intra-day gyrations in US yields, albeit with yen slightly outperforming these trends. Earlier the latest round of North Korean missile launches, may have sparked some safe haven demand, but only at the margins. Data wise, the trade deficit was narrower than expectations and core machine orders printed above expectations. Support comes in at 50-Day MA (¥132.54) then ¥132.22, the low from March 15.
• Pressure in NZD came as Q4 GDP printed below expectations at -0.6% Q/Q and much weaker than the RBNZ forecast of +0.7%. NZD/USD pared some of its losses on the Credit Suisse news. ASB revised their call for the April RBNZ meeting to a hike of 25bps.
• AUD/USD firmed as the Australian unemployment rate printed lower than expectations. However, pressure was seen as Iron Ore slid on concerns that cuts to Chinese steel production will be cut once again as the government mandates reduced output in order to limit carbon emissions.
• Elsewhere in G-10 CHF is ~0.3% firmer, USD/CHF prints at CHF0.9300/05, marginally paring yesterday's Credit Suisse driven weakness as USD/CHF rose 2%.
• Cross asset wise; US Treasury Yields are firmer and S&P500 futures are up ~0.5%. BBDXY is 0.2% softer.
• In Europe today the ECB's monetary policy decision headlines. Further out we have US Jobless Claims, Housing Starts and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index.