***Safe haven assets have benefitted from...>

US ECON: ***Safe haven assets have benefitted from a set of headlines noting

that Gary Cohn will step down as chief of the US NEC, which opens the potential

for a harder line on trade as Cohn was a known dissenter against Trump's recent

metal-based tariffs. Not long after those headlines we heard that the US is said

to be considering broad curbs on Chinese imports & takeovers. USDJPY last trades

around 105.60 from 106.20, with broad JPY demand apparent in early dealing.

Elsewhere tariff sensitive currencies such as the MXN & CAD have underperformed,

while the AUD also took a hit. GBP & EUR have ticked up against the greenback.

Elsewhere US T-Note futures have garnered a bid and last trade 10 ticks higher

at 120-11, while S&P e-mini futures are 29 points lower in early dealing.