ASIA WRAP: Waiting


*Asia equities soft on overnight trade headlines
*FX ranges tight awaiting US-China trade talks
*Gold steadies above US$1,500



FX:

  • There wasn't much to rave about in G10 FX with ranges compact throughout the Asia session, despite what were some decent moves in overnight NY.
  • AUDUSD crept higher +0.1% and stayed a touch above 0.673. Westpac Consumer sentiment printed -5.5% but drew little response. 
  • NZDUSD finished +0.16% tracking Aussie's footsteps. 
  • USDJPY consolidated around 107.1-2 for most the session. 
  • USDCNH was slightly off -0.2% having spiked to 7.16 last night. With US-China talks due tomorrow, we could see another test of all-time highs. 
  • Elsewhere, USD was broadly weaker against Asian EMs with USDKRW down -0.1% and USDINR lower -0.15%. 

Equities:

  • Asian benchmark indices tracked lower as the latest US-China headlines weighed.
  • ASX spot closed at 6,546, 0.7% lower, led by a major sell-off in Flight Centre (FLT.AX) which tumbled 11.7%. The multi-national travel firm said 1H FY2020 underlying profit was tracking lower against the prior corresponding period. 
  • Dec Futures were marginally down also -0.02%. 
  • Nikkei Futures came off -0.8%. 
  • S&P 500 Futures managed to trade flat for most of the day. 

Fixed Income:

  • Bonds were also quiet with yields largely unchanged. 
  • US10y yields ended flat. 
  • AUS10y yields were choppy but stayed tight, up +1bps. Short-term Aussie rates are implying a 55% probability that the RBA cuts in early November. 

Commodities:

  • Brent Crude tracked lower -0.2%. 
  • Gold spot was up +0.1% supported by the pessimistic tone ahead of US-China talks. 



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