- Tokyo holiday ensured a relatively quiet session in Asia
- Regional stockmarkets fell by up to 1%
- Gold fell slightly to $1533/oz, Silver was unchanged at $41.25/oz
- China may extend property curbs to regional cities
There has been some evidence of risk averse trading in the FX market, with the NZD/JPY the most notable mover, falling by 1.25% at one stage during the morning.
EUR/USD opened in Asia at 1.4825, moved immediately to its session highs near 1.4840 on some EUR/JPY buying but when this move reversed sharply, the EUR/USD fell quite swiftly at times before yet again pulling up above the base of its holding range: Ranges: EUR/USD 1.4773/1.4839, EUR/CHF 1.2760/87, EUR/JPY 119.45/120.26
AUD/USD followed a similar path to EUR/USD with again the AUD/JPY cross providing the lead. AUD/USD closed at 1.0830, rose to 1.0866 session highs in early trade before falling sharply alongside the NZD/JPY flows. It pulled up shy of technical support at 1.0780. Ranges: AUD/USD 1.0787/1.0866, AUD/JPY 87.18/88.06
USD/JPY was at the mercy of the cross flows and moved 15 pips either side of an 80.95 mid-point depending on the short-term directions. Dealers anticipate semi-official bids below 80.70 and were reluctant to test the level. Ranges: USD/JPY 80.79/81.11
Cable traded 1.6454/94, EUR/GBP .8974/.9000, USD/CHF .8607/47
