The U.S.-China trade war escalation...........>

FOREX: The U.S.-China trade war escalation continued to unfold overnight, as

U.S. Pres Trump said at a campaign rally that China "broke the deal" and "will

be paying for it." His comments came ahead of Chinese delegation's arrival in

Washington for the 11th round of bilateral trade negotiations.

- Resultant risk-off mood spilled over into the FX space, pressing AUD to the

bottom of the G10 pile and forcing NZD to give away its earlier gains. KRW

declined sharply, with USD/KRW touching the highest levels since Jan 20 2017.

- CNH took a hit from the trade matters and extended losses as China's credit

growth slowed more than exp. Earlier in the session Chinese CPI met forecasts,

while PPI accelerated more than exp. USD/CNH topped out at CNH6.8339 before

returning just below CNH6.8296, which represents the target from the triple

bottom formation observed in the recent months.

- JPY was the best G10 performer as investors shied away from risk assets.

- U.S. & Canadian trade balance figures, U.S. PPI & the Norges Bank MonPol

decision take focus today. Central bank rhetoric will be provided by Riksbank's

Jochnick, ECB's Hakkarainen, as well as Fed's Powell, Bostic & Evans.