ForexLive Asian market wrap: Chinese February official PMI better than expected

Official Chinese PMI for February came in at 51.0 HSBC final PMI for February 49.6 Australian Q4 new Capex, -0.3% QoQ Australian new building approvals +0.9% MoM Japanese Q4 Capex rises unexpectedly Nikkei +0.5%, Shanghai +0.25% Gold $1723/oz, Oil $107/bbl Another painfully slow session in Asia with the market showing no inclination to follow on from the Bernanke-inspired moves in late NY trade. EUR/USD opened at 1.3310 and has only seen a 30 pip range which is probably explainable by reported bids at 1.3315 and offers at 1.3365. We tried the downside first but couldn't break below the buying interest to get at reportedly large stops below 1.3310. Range: 1.3316/50 AUD/USD fell marginally on the domestic data and then regained those losses on the slightly better China PMI. Gold staged a decent recovery after a vertical fall in the wake of Bernanke's speech when he dwelled on the recent positive employment data, thereby giving hints that QE3 is not in the pipeline. AUD/USD ends the session 20 pips higher after a 1.0718/60 range. USD/JPY has slowly drifted lower with plentiful offers above 81.50 setting the tone there. Ranges: 80.90/81.36 Cable 1.5908/33; EUR/CHF 1.2047/59