It has been a sedate first half of the........>

FOREX: It has been a sedate first half of the final Asia-Pacific session of

2018, with activity limited by shortened trading sessions & closures across the

majority of the major regional trading hubs. Optimistic rhetoric from U.S.

President Trump & Chinese counterpart Xi noted over the weekend re: trade has

had little in the way of impact on G10 FX.

- JPY a touch lower in the main, with equity indices running higher, NZD also

lagging, CAD unwound bulk of early gains. Little in the way of notable reaction

to the latest round of official Chinese PMI data. The m'fing PMI survey moved

into contractionary territory for the first time since Jul '16, as the

non-m'fing reading accelerated unexpectedly.

- Over the weekend UK Trade minister Fox told the the Times that "Brexit is on a

knife edge & the chances of Britain leaving the EU are "50-50" if MPs reject

Theresa May's deal." Elsewhere, EU's Juncker told the UK to "get your act

together" over Brexit. Worth noting that GBP/USD & EUR/GBP 3-month implied vols

remain shy of YtD highs registered earlier this month, even though the measure

now captures March 29, the date when the UK is scheduled to leave the EU.