- Japan’s July industrial output +0.3% MoM
- Japan’s July retail sales +3.9% YoY
- Japan’s July average wage +1.3% YoY
- UK consumer confidence in August improves to -18 from -22 in July
- UK house prices fall 0.3% MoM
- Australian retail sales +0.7% MoM against expectations for 0.4%
- Australian July building approvals +2.3% MoM
- Australian current account deficit AUD$5.6bln
- Regional stockmarkets fall by 2%
Once again movements in the FX market have been led by firstly the CHF and later on the JPY.
Two sizeable flows in EUR/CHF, firstly from 1.2990 and subsequently from 1.2960, drove this cross lower on the day as risk-aversion and the daily close below 1.30 combined to encourage fresh selling by investment funds. USD/CHF has again been unable to break below 1.0220. Ranges: EUR/CHF 1.2929/99, USD/CHF 1.0229/66.
EUR/USD broke below short-term support at 1.2660 and triggered stops, helped by the heavy selling in EUR/CHF. After bottoming out at 1.2633, the pair rebounded modestly to close the gap back to 60 on the s/t charts. Ranges: 1.2633/73
USD/JPY has drifted lower throughout the session but sizeable bids between 84.30/50 have slowed the fall. Further verbal intervention from FinMin Noda has had no impact whatsoever and it seems the market has stopped listening to them. Ranges: 84.27/66, EUR/JPY 106.63/107.19
Sterling has been unaffected by the data released earlier in the session and finishes the session close to its opening levels. Dealers anticipate heavy two-way turnover in the GBP at the month-end London fix. Ranges: Cable 1.5455/77, EUR/GBP .8172/93
The AUD has benefitted slightly from the strong retail sales data which continues to show an economy in decent shape. Ranges: .8912/56
Markets: Nikkei -2.9%, Kospi -1.2%, HK -0.8% and Shanghai -0.5%. Gold $1239/oz, oil $74.25/bbl.
