Although today's Asia-Pac session was rich....>

FOREX: Although today's Asia-Pac session was rich in regional data releases,

most of the G10 crosses stuck to fairly tight ranges. NZD outperformed, albeit

by a narrow margin, buoyed by a strong NZ building permits print, which hit

during the NY/Asia crossover. AUD lagged NZD for the bulk of the session,

despite briefly closing the gap upon the release of stronger than exp. Chinese

Caixin m'fing PMI.

- JPY underperformed, as it came under pressure around the Tokyo fix, while a

broader risk-on tone also added some weight (even more so post-Chinese PMI) with

the Nikkei 225 moving ~1.1% higher. BBG reports pointing to MUFG closing in on

the purchase of DZ Bank's aviation arm also added weight to JPY. The yen largely

ignored domestic data, although Japanese capex & Tokyo core CPI topped exp.,

while final Feb Nikkei m'fing PMI was revised to 48.9 from the flash 48.5.

- Fed Chair Powell spoke overnight, but offered little new, reiterating that the

healthy condition of U.S. economy allows the Fed to be patient.

- Focus today turns to global m'fing PMI data, EZ, Norwegian & German

unemployment, Canadian GDP, as well as remarks from Fed's Bostic.