By Publishing Editors USD softens with UST yields, risk better bid in Asia Market Briefs • Fed Gov Bowman – Inflation progress may have stalled • Fed to cut US rates 'at some point, but no hurry, Mester says • Foreign holdings of US Treasuries hit record high, Japan holdings rise • ANALYSIS-Wobbling US stocks could push volatility-linked funds to ramp up selling • Biden - and steelmakers - promise U.S. Steel will stay American • Biden pushes higher Chinese metal tariffs in ‘Steel City’ Pittsburgh • US nods to 'serious' Japan, S.Korea concerns over slumping currencies • MOF Kanda – G7 reaffirmed commitment on forex in nod to Japan’s stance • BOJ Noguchi - Future rate hikes likely to be slow • Japanese buy net Y53.9 bln foreign stocks, Y5.2 bln bills, sell Y1.0059 tln bonds Apr 13 week • Foreigners buy net Y1.74 tln Japanese stocks, Y50.7 bln JGBs, sell Y3.804 tln bills • POLL-Japan firms see English disclosure requirement as a burden • Berkshire-Hathaway prices Y263.3 bln 7-part global yen bonds • Oracle to invest over $8 bln in Japan in cloud computing, AI • ANALYSIS-Japan Inc makes a renewed U.S. push as China fears mount • China's c.bank warns against 'one-sided' pursuit of credit expansion • Yuan's share of global payments by value hits record high in March, SWIFT says • AU Mar Employment -6.6k, 10.0k f'cast, 117.6k prev; Unemp. Rate 3.8%, 3.9% f'cast, 3.7% prev; • ECB's Lagarde hints it is too early to review inflation target • Israel will defend itself, Netanyahu says, as West calls for restraint Looking Ahead - Economic Data (GMT) • 08:00 EZ Feb Current Account Bal NSA E24.87 bln, SA E39.35 bln prev Looking Ahead - Events, Other Releases (GMT) • 06:30 Riksbank Bunge speaks in Stockholm • 07:15/08:15 ECB De Guindos parliamentary testimony • 12:00 German FinMin Lindner/Buba Nagel speak to reporters in Washington, DC • 14:00 Riksbank Jansson speaks at Stockholm seminar • 15:00 BoE Greene speaks at Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center • 15:00 Fed Bostic speaks at Prosperity Partnership Fort Lauderdale Meeting • 17:30 ECB Schnabel speaks at EU-US Symposium • 17:30 ECB Centeno, Simkus, Vujcic speak in Washington, DC Commentary and Analysis USD/JPY long liquidation, option brackets, crosses soft • USD/JPY off on lower US yields, long liquidation, 154.40 to 153.96 EBS • Bounce after fall in dip-buying interest from Japanese importers, others • Market thin and still cautious, Japan-US-SoKorea "pact" on currencies • For MOF, 155.00 also remains "line in the sand" on possible FX action • Massive option barriers at strike, defensive sales ahead, stops above • In the meantime, plenty of large option expiries in area to contain action • Vanilla expiries today 153.00 $6.1 bln, 153.25 $1.1 bln, 153.80 $980 mln • Also 154.00 $755 mln, 154.50 $1 bln and 155.00 $896 mln • US yields remained soggy in Asia, Treasury 2s @4.918%, 10s @4.576% • Comments from BOJ Noguchi, Fed-speak, flow data taken in stride • Nikkei +0.4% @38,100, tracking away from yesterday's 37,644.91 low • JPY crosses mostly taking their cue from USD/JPY, some JPY buy-backs • EUR/JPY 164.39-74 EBS, GBP/JPY 191.85-192.36, AUD/JPY 99.15-55 • MXN/JPY on lower plane, 9.0686-9.1013, retracement low yesterday 9.0360 EUR/USD-Edges higher and risk rallies in calm Asia • EUR/USD opened +0.51% at 1.0673 after USD broadly eased with lower US yields • The Asian session was upbeat with the AXJ index rising over 1.1% • The improved risk appetite weighed on the USD and EUR/USD edged up to 1.0679 • EUR/USD trending lower with the 5, 10 & 21-day MAs in a bearish alignment • Resistance is at the 10-day MA at 1.0726 with sellers ahead of 1.0700 • Support has formed at 1.0600 where bids are tipped • EUR/USD recovery more of a correction while 1.0730 contains rallies AUD/USD-Bounces in Asia as risk assets start to recover • AUD/USD opened +0.53% @ 0.6434 after USD corrected lower and US yields eased • Aus jobs data didn't have an impact, as results were mixed • AUD/USD stared to move higher whe
Bellwether