The preliminary reading of the PMI from Japan for July showed at 52.1, unchanged from the previous month, as business activity recorded an expansion of 7y
month in a row. Manufacturing remained contracting while services held steady in expansion and were down slightly from June.

Australian flash PMIs weren’t very encouraging, all three in contraction in July.

In the news flow, there is not much to report about the impact of forex.

The central bank news was that only the People’s Bank of China set the USD/CNY reference rate well under estimate again today. The bank has kept the yuan strong for 3 weeks:

Asian stock markets:

  • Japan’s Nikkei 225 +1%

  • China Shanghai Composite +0.3%

  • Hang Seng in Hong Kong -1%

  • Kosby in South Korea +0.7%

  • Australia S&P/ASX 200 +0.05%

Bitcoin fell during the session after rallying over the weekend.