- Italy turns to China for help: FT
- Australian business confidence falls sharply to -8 from +2 in July
- UK RICS house price index -23 from -22
- Spanish Treasury Official: No threat to EUR
- Former China central banker says panic about EUR is unnecessary
- NZ FinMin: Should be able to keep rates lower for longer
- Nikkei +0.4%, Shanghai -1.5%
- Gold rallies $15 in Asia to $1832/oz
Once again, very little to report on during the Asian session.
EUR/USD closed at 1.3675 in NY, and started drifting lower immediately with Asia happy to play EUR/JPY from the short side. The selling picked up some momentum on the Tokyo open but ran out of steam pretty quickly. Some favourable EUR comments from EZ and Chinese officials encouraged short-covering. Ranges: 1.3619/83
USD/JPY has drifted lower through the session albeit in another tight range. Falling US yields and corporate need to buy Yen before the fiscal half-year end, are the main factors at play. 77.00/25; EUR/JPY 105.12/62
AUD/USD has also been relatively quiet, falling initially as day-traders set their stalls but then rebounding when momentum ran out. Ranges: 1.0298/1.0366
Cable 1.5828/69; USD/CHF .8797/.8839
