Themes

· General mood is “risk off”

· Wires: Senior Ukrainian Official: Russia has begun to use phosphorus bombs

· Dollar bid in Asia, new highs against JPY and CHF

What’s Moving

In what was expected to be a fairly quiet data poor day in Asia, the Dollar caught a decent early bid out of the chute, with new recent highs seen against the Yen and the Swiss Franc.

Afternoon dealings saw the Dollar hold its better levels and extend firmer against Sterling.

Interestingly, despite Dollar strength, both gold and oil have come off slightly today.

For tonight, there is a distinct lack of data and events scheduled on the calendar. Expect U.S. rates and any news out of the Ukraine to dominate trade direction.

Data tonight sees:

· German WPI (E: +0.9%), and

· French Trade Balance (E: -9.8bln)