ForexLive Asian Wrap: North Korea tries to upstage The Pope

In a move provocatively designed to knock the Pope off the front pages, North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test today Japan January M3 +2.3%Y/Y (+2.3% expected) Japan January M2 +2.7%Y/Y (+2.6% expected) UK January RICS House Price Balance -4% (prior was flat, expected was +1%) Australia January NAB Business Confidence 3 (vs. Prior of 2) Australia January NAB Business Conditions -2 (prior was -5) – more here Japan's Finance Minister Aso: “We are firmly conducting monetary and economic policies in order to escape from a prolonged deflationary stagnation” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made comments about combined monetary easing and fiscal actions, also that as Japanese companies improved profits they should raise wages New Zealand Total Card Spending +0.4%M/M (Prior was +0.4% m/m) New Deputy Governor at RBNZ, Geoff Bascand The big mover today was the Yen, in very late New York, on the back of comments from US Treasury's Brainard of the US supporting Japan's efforts to reinvigorate its economy and beat deflation. USD/JPY traded to 94.36, EUR/JPY just shy of 126.60 It found support on a pullback around 94.15/20 and is testing there again as I type. AUD/USD tested below 1.0250 early and found buyers again – but only bounced to 1.0270 before the big selling interest re-emerged, pushing it to new lows below 1.0240. EUR/USD had a very quiet Asian session, drifting marginally lower as news of the North Korean nuclear test seeped through and was gradually confirmed. The range was nothing to write home about, 1.3405 down to 1.3384. Cable continued to trade very heavily, unable to bounce more than 10 points from its overnight lows.