DXY has dropped 8 pips thus far and last.....>

DOLLAR: DXY has dropped 8 pips thus far and last trades at 97.59 after rallying

nearly 80 pips yesterday and touching a fresh YTD high of 97.71, mostly on the

back of post-ECB EUR fragility.

- Fed's Brainard spoke yesterday, noting that downside risk at home and abroad

call for patience re: MonPol.

- WTI has ebbed ~$0.30 lower, while gold is almost unchanged.

- DXY bears look for a break below 97.37, which capped gains on Feb 15. This

would open up the psychological 97.00 level, breached yesterday' Meanwhile,

bulls need to clear the upper 1.0% 10-DMA envelope at 97.66 before challenging

the aforementioned YTD high.

- U.S. focus today turns to the domestic labour market report, housing starts

and building permits.