Forexlive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: New Zealand jobs report beats estimates

Markets:

• Gold down $1 to $2034
• US 10-year yields down 0.5 bps to 4.08%
• WTI crude up 20-cents to $73.51
• Nikkei 225 down 0.5%
• Shanghai Comp +0.9%
• AUD leads, USD lags

Price action has been limited in Asia-Pacific trading so far.

The early move was a bump up in the New Zealand dollar as unemployment in the jobs report sat at 4.0% compared to 4.2% expected. That combined with stronger wages to help lift the kiwi as high as 0.6111 from 0.6080 ahead of the data. The pair was also helped along by some broad, mild US dollar selling.

However that dollar selling has since reversed somewhat toe leave the dollar closer to unchanged on the session. The dollar selling early was a continuation of the retracement of the dollar rally that kicked off late last week. One of the factors that’s getting some talk is the seasonal adjustment in the January non-farm payrolls report, something we’ve been talking about for over a week.

The downgrade of suddenly-embattled NYCB raises questions about the office real estate market and how bad the losses could be. Shares of the bank fell another 20% on Tuesday and are likely to face more pressure on the downgrade.

US equity futures are 0.2% higher though, despite a 30% drop in SNAP shares following earnings. Ford reported better revenue and other reports were also reassuring for equity bulls.

In China, the market continues to expect some help from Beijing either for the economy or the markets specifically. Chinese stocks remain higher but are off the best levels of the day. The clock continues to tick towards next week’s lunar new year holidays and many are hoping for help before markets close.