Overnight preparation

• RBNZ hikes New Zealand interest rates 25bps as expected
• Japanese Flash Manufacturing PMI stronger at 54.2 from 53.5 talk
• Big Dollar strength largely persisting

What’s Moving
Another quiet session in Asia today, with most markets consolidating recent an continued USD strength, but within familiar ranges. The NZD largely ignored the RBNZ rate hike and is sitting largely unchanged from opening levels.
Today might get a little more exciting, with some real data scheduled for release. This starts with the German IFO Index, which is expected to print at 96.8. U.S. trade sees U.S. Preliminary GDP (E: +2.2%), Durable Goods (E: +0.2%) and Initial Employment Claims (E: 259k).
Any of his data sets are market moving and the risk for all of them is to stronger than expected results.
Everything still looks set for further USD strength across the majors, while the next movement of gold after the recent dip might also well be key.