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NOK Slides as Norges Bank Confirmed Upped FX Purchase Plan

FOREX
  • The USD trades firmer ahead of NY hours, with a spell of greenback strength following the softer-than-expected French inflation release. Volumes picked up across futures markets to make for a busier-than-expected morning, possibly catching markets off guard given the delay to German inflation data originally slated for today.
  • NOK is the poorest performer in G10, as the Norges Bank confirmed a larger than expected schedule for February FX purchases. Consensus looked for an unchanged clip of NOK 1.5lbn per day, not the NOK 1.9bln confirmed this morning. EUR/NOK rallied to new cycle highs in response, touching 10.8982 in early European trade.
  • AUD trades similarly poorly after a softer-than-expected retail sales release overnight, which dropped 3.9% on the month vs. Exp. -0.2%. AUD/USD is holding just above the $0.70 handle at typing, but a break below would open losses toward $0.6994 - a move that would narrow the gap with the 50-dma support of $0.6832.
  • MNI Chicago Business Barometer is the data highlight Tuesday, with markets expecting a read of 45.1 - in line with the prior month. Elsewhere, the Employment Cost Index and January consumer confidence releases could draw focus on top of Canadian GDP.
  • There are no central bank speakers of note, with the ECB, Fed and BoE respecting their pre-decision media blackout periods.

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