RSS ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: USD weaker session – no tariff news is good news

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News crossed early via a Wall Street Journal report that while Trump was planning a number of executive orders within hours of being sworn in as President on Monday, US time (he is being sworn in at noon US Eastern time) he would not be issuing orders on tariffs. The Journal reported this on the basis of unnamed sources briefed on a call from Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming White House deputy chief of staff for policy. Over the session here ‘risk’ FX moved higher against the USD. Whether the report turns out to be correct is the next question. If not it’ll set up a retrace higher for USD. A sharp one I’d suggest. Something to eye in the hours ahead.

Other news revolved around the People’s Bank of China leaving China’s benchmark lending rates unchanged at the monthly fixing on Monday. A weakening yuan has limited PBoC monetary easing options a little. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.1%, while the five-year LPR was unchanged at 3.6%. Most new and outstanding loans in China are based on the one-year LPR, while the five-year rate influences the pricing of mortgages.

There was little yen-related news but JPY took a big stick to the weaker USD with gusto. USD/JPY popped initially to highs above 156.50 but fell back to lows under 155.75 at one stage.

Back to Trump’s executive orders. Later news focused on Trump poised to invoke emergency powers as part of his plan to unleash domestic energy production (see bullets above).

Note that Monday is a US market holiday. I’ve posted a run down on market closures (some futures markets are opened for some trading on Monday):

• Reminder - US markets are closed on Monday, January 20, 2025

USD/JPY update:

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.

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