ForexLive Asia-Pacific FX news wrap: Yen takes some back

• China's leaders will meet to discuss stimulus measures
• Chinese Amazon sellers warn of price hikes and market exit amid U.S. tariffs
• New Zealand fin min says RBNZ has ample room to lower interest rates if needed
• Kazuyuki Masu, a former CFO of Mitsubishi, nominated to join Bank of Japan policy board
• Australia is reopening talks about free trade with the European Union
• China March CPI -0.1% y/y (expected +0.1%)
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY mid-point today at 7.2092 (vs. estimate at 7.3484)
• Australian inflation expectations surge in April, to 4.2% (prior 3.6%)
• Japan bond yields rise - but this time its good news - shift to stocks on tariff relief
• WSJ says "Xi Jinping’s capacity to engage in a prolonged economic warfare with the US"
• China's Commerce Minister repeats that China will fight to the end
• Japan data - March PPI +0.4% m/m (expected +0.2%) & +4.2% y/y (expected +3.9%)
• Trump's the tariff mix is actually worse after his latest cave in
• UK data shows house buyer demand in March hit its lowest since September 2023
• National Australia Bank forecast a 50bp Reserve Bank of Australia rate cut in May
• Canada PM Carney: Pause on reciprocal tariffs welcome reprieve for the global economy
• Goldman Sachs cancelled their recession forecast after Trump's tariff cave in
• Fed's Kashkari says the uncertainty may lead to economic decline
• Fed's Hammack says markets looked strained but are functioning
• Trump: I can't imagine a further increase of tariffs on China.
• New Zealand PM Luxon to visit the UK this month, trade talks with UK PM Starmer.
• US stock market surges after Trump tariff pause. Nasdaq index has it's best day since 2001
• Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: Trump drops reciprocal tariffs, huge market moves follow
• Trade ideas thread - Thursday, 10 April, insightful charts, technical analysis, ideas

Some of the epic gains from Trump's tariff backtrack were rolled back during the Asia session today.

U.S. equity index futures pulled back. While the drop looks significant in isolation—ES futures have fallen from above 5520 to around 5450 as I write—it’s worth remembering that this index surged from below 5000 just over 12 hours ago.

A few points of interest for markets in our timezone:

• Trump’s rollback has lowered the average effective tariff rate from 27% to 24%. While that’s a move in the right direction, it remains at an anti-growth level. This doesn’t bode well for inflation or risk assets going forward. The three-month delay in implementing the new tariffs might also discourage businesses from committing to new investment or capex. Things are less bad—but not significantly better. While de-escalation would be welcomed, there’s been no sign of that from either China or Trump during today’s session.

• The People’s Bank of China weakened the yuan again in today’s daily fix—marking the sixth consecutive day of downward adjustment. It’s not a ‘big bang’ devaluation, more a steady drip lower.

• On the data front, the key release was further evidence of ongoing deflation in China.

Other headlines were light. China’s leadership is meeting today to discuss potential stimulus measures. Meanwhile, Australia and the European Union are restarting free trade talks, which collapsed two years ago.

In FX, USD/JPY has given up ground during the session, dropping back below 146.80. The dollar is also slightly weaker against the EUR, AUD, GBP, and NZD.