ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Chinese yuan gains – strong setting, mixed data

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USD/JPY
had more decent-sized swings again today, from around 141.80 it
traded to (briefly) above 142.40 before dropping all the way back to
where it began. We had lower-tier data from Japan today, not enough
to point a finger at to blame for the move(s). Yen is likely to keep
on moving in a volatile fashion ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting
next week, on the 18th
and 19th,
and, I suspect, beyond.
</p><p>AUD,
NZD, CAD all traded a little higher against the USD. Eyes were on
China where it was a mixed bag today:</p><ul><li>the
People’s Bank of China set the CNY at its highest reference rate
since early June;</li><li>the
PBoC injected a whopping 1.45tln yuan at today’s Medium-term
Lending Facility (MLF) rate setting and rollover; 650bn yuan matured
which left a monthly injection of 800bn yuan, its biggest ever;</li><li>Chinese
economic activity data for November indicated a beat for Industrial
Production, a miss for Retail Sales, and property-related indicators that
remained
very
weak indeed,
with
falling investment, sales and prices.</li></ul><p>Offshore
yuan (CNH) has traded strongly during the day so far, helping support
China-related trades (such as AUD).</p><p>Offshore yuan higher, 5-minute candles:</p>

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