Geopolitical Risks Under Scrutiny

G10 FX space keeps searching for clear directionality, with participants assessing the risk of material escalation in Russia's military build-up on the Ukrainian border. A flurry of diplomatic activity continued over the weekend but failed to produce any breakthrough, with all parties to the stand-off clinging to familiar positions.

• The kiwi dollar underperforms as we type. Survey data from BNZ/BusinessNZ showed that New Zealand's services sector fell deeper into contraction in January, as all main sub-indices declined.
• The yen is the second worst performer. The BoJ offered to buy an unlimited amount of 5-10 Year JGBs in defence of its cap on benchmark yield, as announced after Tokyo hours last Thursday. Japanese markets re-opened after a long weekend.
• In the absence of notable data releases today, focus turns to comments from BoJ's Kuroda, Fed's Bullard & ECB's Lagarde.