We have had a relatively quiet trading session in Asia with Tokyo’s financial markets closed for a holiday. There was a brief flurry of stop-loss hunts in both the EUR/USD and AUD/USD early in the day but neither pair had enough momentum to carry on.

EUR/USD closed in NY at 1.2935 on Friday and opened in Asia towards 1.2900 as traders expected a day of risk aversion. EUR/JPY and EUR/CHF were both marked lower and stops below 1.2890 were targeted and triggered in the EUR/USD. Lack of momentum has led to tight ranges for the remainder of the session. Ranges: EUR/USD 1.2884/1.2920, EUR/CHF 1.3510/49 (NY close 1.3580), EUR/JPY 111.54/112.01.

USD/JPY has moved around with the crosses as usual in an 86.49/71 range.

AUD/USD opened 30 pips below it’s NY closing level at .8690 and proceeded to fall as AUD/JPY selling weighed. Stops were triggered below .8645 before the market bounced modestly on lacklustre momentum. Ranges: AUD/USD .8635/86, AUD/JPY 74.60/75.29.

Cable has traded quietly in a 1.5282/1.5320 range. Talk of good sell orders in EUR/GBP above .8480 have helped the sentiment towards the pound. Ranges: EUR/GBP .8428/40.

Markets: Nikkei closed, HK -1%, Kospi -0.6%, All Ords -1.6%. Gold $1193/oz, oil $75.50/bbl