ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Bitcoin stabilised above $63K

• Saudi Arabia raises Arab Light crude price to Asia
• Bank of Japan seen revising down assessment on consumption, output at March meeting
• Powell, Daly, Kashkari, Beige Book all coming up from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday
• Westpac look for a short term dip in USD/JPY
• Reserve Bank of Australia expected to deliver 75bp of rate cuts in 2024
• Japan wage talks – Toyota will respond to Union on March 13
• RBNZ chief economist says Fed, New Zealand dollar, could bring on RBNZ rate cuts sooner
• Senior Chinese officials news conference on economy coming up soon
• Chinese financial media reports that 2 NPC members urge more Party control over PBOC
• Powell testimony Wednesday will likely see yields rise
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 7.1016 (vs. estimate at 7.1939)
• Australian Q4 2023 GDP +0.2% q/q (vs. expected +0.3%)
• UBS on investor euphoria, it “isn’t close” to dot-com bubble burst level
• Fed’s Bowman doesn’t comment on the economy nor monetary policy
• South Korean Inflation accelerated in February after three months of declines
• Former New York Fed economist says 3 FOMC rate cuts this year is a reasonable base case
• UK Finance Minister Hunt says must bring down borrowing, reduce debt
• Federal Reserve Chair Powell speaking in Congress on Wednesday, preview: “Less hawkish”
• Australian GDP data due today, previewing likely subdued growth
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: ISM services on the soft side, BTC and gold hit records
• Private survey of oil inventories shows smaller headline crude build than expected
• Major US stock indices close lower on the day led by the NASDAQ
• RBNZ Chief Economist says declines in core inflation are encouraging
• Trade ideas thread – Wednesday, 6 March 2024

News
and data flow was limited today. On the news front US politics
dominated (see below) while in data flow we had Q4 2023 Australian
GDP.

The
Australian data was very poor indeed, the economy grew just 0.2% q/q, 1.5%
y/y. Elevated interest rates and the high and rising cost of living
were cited as drags. Household consumption was very disappointing,
with discretionary spending down 0.9% on the quarter and spending on
essentials +0.7%. The Reserve Bank of Australia next meet on March 18
and 19. The rate hike cycle is over and it seems too soon for a rate
cut.

The
Australian dollar dribbled a few tics lower after the data but soon
reversed towards highs for the session circa 0.6515. NZD and CAD rose
also. EUR/USD and GBP/USD are not a lot changed on the day.

USD/JPY had a small range only and is sitting more or less in the middle of it around 149.95 as I post.

In
US politics it was ‘Super Tuesday’ Primary voting. The usual two
suspects polled very strongly indeed and barring some sort of
misfortune look set to be the two contenders in November. Incumbent
President Biden won all except for American Samoa. Ex-President Trump
won all of his contests except for Vermont.

Bitcoin
is reasonable steady around USD63,600 as I post.