Asian Markets

In Asia, China’s September property price report will be out today at 9.30 am. US payrolls data later today will be of interest given the uncertainties sur-rounding the Fed QE tapering.

    FX

    There was some short-covering in USD/AXJs on Mon ahead of the US NFP data. KRW and TWD ended lower at 1,062.25/USD and 29.482/USD on Mon from 1,060.85 and 29.446 respectively on Fri. MYR eased to 3.1807/USD from 3.1501 on Fri while IDR firmed to 10,853/USD from 10,904 on Fri. THB ended at 31.081/USD at the close of the Asian session on Mon com-pared to Fri’s 31.045. USD/AXJs are likely to trade on a cautious note today as downward momentum is stalled by the US data concerns.

    SGD

    USD/SGD traded above 1.24 during the Ldn/NY session from a low of 1.2379 in the Asian session. The trade-weighted SGD NEER was trading at 0.1% be-low the mid-point this morning with +/-0.5% from the mid-point implying USD/SGD range of 1.2360-1.2480 based on current FX levels.

    RMB

    Despite broadly firmer USD in other Asian markets, RMB continued to rise against the USD on Mon af-ter the PBoC set the central parity at a record high in the morning. Spot RMB ended firmer at 6.0925/USD on Mon compared to 6.0968/USD on Fri. In the NDF market, 1Y RMB was at 6.1520/USD on Mon, pricing in around 1.0% depreciation against USD in a year’s time. Following USD rebound in the broad market, the PBoC set the RMB central parity lower at 6.1395/USD today compared to the record high of 6.1352/USD on Mon.

    Equity

    In the Asian stocks market, Shanghai CI led gains on Mon, rising 1.6% due to optimism over the eco-nomic growth after 3Q GDP data last Fri. Hang Seng Index rose 0.4% while the STI ended up 0.1% on Mon. With a lack of trading direction ahead of the NFP data tonight, Asian indexes could consolidate during the Asian session today.