GBP G10 Underperformer Early On

A sluggish start to Asia-Pac trade on Monday after the greenback trimmed Thursday's losses to close back toward the upper end of the week's range Friday, keeping the USD Index within range of the bull trigger at the mid-August high of 93.73. Friday saw modest risk-off trade, with equities edging lower on the back of further concerns surrounding China's property development giant Evergrande.

• AUD and NZD are both a handful of pips higher; domestic dockets are empty today, markets look ahead to risk events during the week including retail sales, private sector credit and PMI data from Australia and the ANZ business survey from New Zealand.
• In Japan local news flow continues to fixate on the upcoming LDP Party election (with reports suggesting that the first round may not result in a majority winner) and COVID (with reports pointing to all related state of emergencies being lifted come the end of this month).
• EUR holding steady despite German political gridlock, GBP is looking soft on worries surrounding the evolving fuel issues in the UK. The local press has suggested that UK PM Johnson will enlist the help of the military to deliver fuel in the coming days, after panic buying has resulted in fuel shortages
• Focus in the coming week turns to thew fallout from the German elections, MNI Chicago Business Barometer data as well as the ISM and University of Michigan releases.