Themes

· General mood is “risk off”

· Australian data mixed; Building Approvals (-18.5%), Trade Balance (9.31bln)

· Chinese Caixin Services PMI weaker than expected at 36.2

What’s Moving

As was expected, it was a largely quiet session in Asia today. Ranges held fairly tightly near New York closing levels after the overnight FOMC rate hike in the U.S.

Gold caught a small bid on news that China was ramping up naval combat drills in the South China Sea near Taiwan. While local data had little impact on forex markets.

For tonight, it will be interesting to see which way the Dollar goes after the overnight rate hike. There was interest both ways on the Dollar after the news and the market will be looking for a defined directional bias for the weeks to come.

Data tonight includes:

· German Factory Orders (E: -1.0%)

· Swiss CPI (E: +0.3%)

· French Industrial Production (E: -0.2%)

· U.K. Final Services PMI (E: 58.3)

· BoE MPC Rate Decision (E: 25bp hike)

· U.S. Initial Claims (E: 180k)