US dollar lower, more data to come
The big battle in US dollar trading is whether the man in the White House is 'Candidate Trump' or a classic Republican president.
The firing of Bannon and his shift on Afghanistan made it seem like he was morphing into George W. Bush part II but the latest rally in Arizona sounded like Candidate Trump, especially the talk about grandstanding in order to get the funds for the border wall.
That's what's weighing on the US dollar as New York ramps up. USD/JPY is down to 109.09, near the lows of the day, and wiping out yesterday's rally. It's a similar story in EUR/USD as it ticks above 1.1800.
Economic data probably won't be a major factor today but there are some numbers to watch. The August preliminary Markit US manufacturing index at 1345 GMT is expected at 53.5 with the services number forecast at 55.0. Both consensus numbers are slightly higher than the final July readings.
Fifteen minutes later, July new home sales are forecast to remain steady at 610K.
At 10:30 am ET (1430 GMT), weekly US oil inventories are out. Here were the results of the API data.
Finally, the Fed's Kaplan speaks at 1:05 pm ET (1705 GMT) at an oil and gas event. We've heard from him a handful of times in the past two weeks so it's unlikely to be anything new.
For more, see the economic calendar.
