Themes
· General mood is “risk off”
· Japanese Household Spending -2.3% and not as weak as expected
· Australian NAB Business Confidence weaker than expected at 10 from 16 last
What’s Moving
After the Dollar strength overnight, it was a fairly quiet session in Asia today, with all major centers at their desk in Asia for the first time in over a week.
The AUD and NZD saw follow-through sales in early Asia with both currencies posting fresh recent lows. The less weaker than expected Japanese Household spending number saw some Ye buying emerge, although USD/JPY held within the morning’s range.
Late morning trade saw some profit taking on the Dollar against all of the majors, with local players looking o keep their cards close to their chests and their trades short-term.
Europe and the rest of the overnight session are also expected to remain fairly quiet, with the market focused on Wednesday’s U.S CPI report.
Data tonight includes:
· Euro-zone ZEW Index (E: -42.0), and
· German ZEW Index (E: -43.0)
Speakers tonight include Fed’s Williams, Waller and Mester, along with Bundesbank’s Nagel.