Aussie was the underperformer during the......>

FOREX: Aussie was the underperformer during the Asia-Pac session on Thursday,

AUD/USD last down 12 pips at 0.8043 after earlier touching a session low of

0.8035. Aussie weakened after a weak print for Building Approvals data. The

headline monthly index fell 20%, against expectations of a 7.6% drop, the annual

reading fell 5.5% compared to an expected 11.5% rise. The series is known to be

volatile and as such the RBA will likely apportion the weakness to transitory

factors. Kiwi was more resilient, AUD/NZD down 26 pips at 1.0911 session lows.

- It was a fairly quiet session overall in forex with subdued ranges. The US

dollar weakened slightly, DXY had fallen pre-FOMC before paring the losses into

the announcement but came off slightly in Asia. This saw GBP/USD and EUR/USD

gain slightly on the session. USD/JPY, however, also gained. The pair is last up

10 pips at 109.29 after earlier touching 109.41. Yen is weakening after several

dovish cues from the BoJ yesterday including increase in 3-5 Year purchases, BoJ

summary of opinions and BoJ Deputy Gov Iwata speech.

- PBOC set the USD/CNY much stronger today at 6.3045 (prev.6.3339), the surge

marks the second biggest rise so far in 2018.