ForexLive Asia FX news wrap: BTC/USD tests under US$42K

AsiaFX mainly sat on its hands awaiting the US data on Friday – nonfarm payroll for December.

USD/JPY popped above 116, briefly, before coming back to more or less unchanged for the session. Cable added on a few points, note the post above about a Bank of England survey finding more more price rises are in the pipeline.

Fresh news flow was light, Australia (and China) tightened coronavirus restrictions a little while ANZ analysis showed consumer spending has dried up to levels last seen in the worst days of lockdowns as Omicron spreads here and a ‘self imposed’ lockdown has gripped the country’s two largest cities. While Australia’s very high vaccination rate is keeping hospital admissions to negligible % levels the sheer high number of cases is translating into a surge into hospitals.

We had data from Japan (see bullets above), core inflation (today’s data was Tokyo area CPI) remains well below the Bank of Japan target.

As for the headline to the wrap, Bitcoin has fallen to levels last seen in late September of 2021. Its lost ground since the more hawkish than expected Federal Open Market Committee minutes this week, as have many other markets. US stock indexes have bounced during Globex trade today though.