Investinglive Asia-pacific FX news wrap: FX rangey, equities softer; RBA minutes cautious

• Strategy aiming to raise at least $500 million to fund more Bitcoin purchases.
• Japan’s finance minister rules out sales tax cuts despite election setback
• China’s smartphone shipments down by 2.4% in Q2 (Apple - 1.6%, Huawei +17.6%)
• Alphabet Earnings: Still Shorting After Seeing This? Then You Might Be Crazy.
• China’s swap curve steepens as deflation fears ease - stimulus helping
• Australian dollar dribbling a tiny bit lower after the RBA minutes
• RBA July minutes: Further rate cuts are warranted over time, focus on timing & extent
• PBOC sets USD/ CNY central rate at 7.1460 (vs. estimate at 7.1635)
• Federal Reserve Chair Powell is speaking Tuesday, along with Governor Bowman
• Goldman Sachs expect three consecutive Federal Reserve 25bp cuts starting in September
• Trump says on Iran rebuilding nukes, promises more attacks - "we will do it again"
• Japanese markets reopen today after holiday Monday, JGBs and equity futures little changed
• U.S. Treasury’s Bessent remarks on reforms of banking regulatory structure
• Tariffs and cuts drive $2.7bn Stellantis loss as North America sales plunge
• New Zealand June 2025: Exports 6.63bn NZD (prior 7.5bn) Imports 6.49bn NZD (prior 6.42bn)
• Australia ends inflation blind spot with full monthly CPI from November
• Trump firing Powell risks higher inflation, lower USD. Eyes on euro flight to credibility.
• JPMorgan warns of extreme crowding in high-beta stocks, sees rising market complacency
• AstraZeneca will invest US$50bn in the US to expand manufacturing and research
• Investinglive Americas FX news wrap 21 Jul: The USD moves lower to start the new week.
• Euro may be shaken, not stirred, as ECB voices concern but markets shrug off rate cut risk
• Iran said cannot abandon its nuclear enrichment program - 'national pride'
• S&P and NASDAQ indices both close at record levels

Quiet session sees FX rangebound, equities softer; RBA minutes cautious, PBOC supports yuan

It was a light day for news and data, with major FX pairs mostly rangebound and regional equities drifting lower.

Japan returned from holiday, with the Nikkei 225 down 0.2% as of writing. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite both slipped 0.1%.

In New Zealand, June trade data showed a monthly surplus of NZ$142 million, but exports fell on the quarter for the first time in nearly two years. The annual trade deficit stands at NZ$4.37 billion.

The RBA’s July meeting minutes reinforced a cautious easing bias, despite strong market expectations for a rate cut that did not materialize.

China’s PBOC set the yuan reference rate at its strongest level since November 8, coming in 175 pips stronger than expected, signaling support for the currency.

In geopolitics, Donald Trump warned he would strike Iran again if necessary, citing concerns over nuclear activity.