Asia FX Summary (July 3rd): The dollar consolidated Thursday's gains in trading activity in Asia on Friday with dealings see fairly subdued with the major events of the week, the ECB and U.S. jobs data, now out of the way and with the U.S. holiday later today. EUR-USD bounced from the late NY lows of 1.3928 to highs of 1.4004 while GBP-USD found solid support ahead of 1.6330 and bounced to 1.6394 with Asian reserve managers purportedly buying both currencies. USD-JPY found support around 95.70, bouncing back to 96.05 with short-covering on crosses providing support. Notably, despite the latest price moves on the currencies, recent ranges prevail with EUR-USD still holding the 1.3800-1.4200 range and GBP-USD in a range of 1.6200-1.6600, while USD-JPY is largely contained between 95.00 to 97.00. Asian regional stock markets were broadly lower in response to the U.S. stock losses but also on fears that the rise in U.S. unemployment to 26 year highs and EU unemployment to 10-year highs will cut Asian export demand. U.S. Treasury markets were closed for the holiday but JGBs hit three month highs as rates fell on tepid growth views. Commodities remained heavy on expectations of weak global demand with NYMEX crude holding under $67.00.
