A$ Weakens Further Against Safe Havens

AUD/USD is roughly where we left it at the Asia close yesterday, at just under 0.6900. The overnight range was around 0.6869/6926, with a mixture of drivers. The currency underperformed though against most of the G10 FX bloc, particularly the safe havens.

• Base metals remain a headwind for the FX, copper down over 5% to $373.90/lbs, while a Bloomberg measure of base metals slid by 2.33%.
• Weaker PMI prints across the EU and US stoked global growth fears. This weighed on core yields, although EU/UK markets saw larger falls than the US.
• Still, iron ore recovered ground. We are back to $117/tonne, while oil was range bound, with Brent finishing sub $110/bbl.
• US equities rose, while the VIX index finished steady around 29%.
• AUD/JPY continued to track lower despite firmer US equities, dipping to the low 92.60 region before rebounding. We open this morning just above 93.00. Note the 50-day MA for this pair comes in at 92.48.
• Today's data calendar is empty, but RBA Governor Lowe speaks on a UBS panel discussion on central banks and inflation. Note though this isn't until 9:30PM AEST Sydney time.