ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: BOJ Gov Ueda spoke, USD/JPY gained

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ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: BOJ Gov Ueda spoke, USD/JPY gained

China Commerce Min to assist firms expand imports amid efforts to boost domestic demandChina's Two Sessions 2024: Economic Strategy awaitedGrayscale s

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  • Trade ideas thread – Friday, 1 March, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas

The
yen weakened through the session. USD/JPY moved from lows just under
150.00 to a high circa 150.40. We had comments from Bank of Japan
Governor Ueda, speaking at a news conference after attending the G20
finance leaders’ meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The comment of note
was that its still too early to conclude that inflation was close to
sustainably meeting the BOJ’s 2% inflation target. Ueda said once
again that he’d need to see the outcome of wage negotiations
currently taking place, for confirmation of a positive wage-inflation
cycle. USD/JPY
took its directional cue from Ueda and ticked higher throughout the
session. Its currently sitting on the high as I update.

ICYMI,
wage
talks
are expected to conclude on March 13, ahead of the next BOJ policy
meeting on March 18 and 19.

The
other focal point for the day were February PMI data points from
China. We had official PMIs from the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) and also the privately surveyed Manufacturing PMI from
Caixin/S&P Global:

  • The
    official Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.1, in contraction for a
    fifth consecutive month, from January’s 49.2
  • Caixin
    came in at 50.9, from 50.8 in January

There
may well be distortions in the figures due to the week-long Lunar New
Year holidays during February. Factories shut during this holiday.
Nevertheless, the poor showing from the official figures fit with the
overall view of malaise in China’s manufacturing sector with poor
demand and property sector debt overhang key negatives.

In
the points above you’ll find a post on China’s annual ‘Two Sessions’
which will set policy priorities for the year ahead. We’ll get most
of the results from these on March 11 and some guidance on what
Chinese authorities will be doing, and not doing, to boost the
economy.

Apart
from USD/JPY the USD lost a little ground here. EUR, GBP (barely),
AUD all added a few tics.

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