The USD has softened a little against the.....>

FOREX: The USD has softened a little against the majors in Asia-Pacific dealing

as regional participants are seemingly paying more attention to the Fed's

inflation target symmetry comments & the removal of the language re: the

economic outlook has strengthened in recent months. As a reminder the FOMC stood

pat as exp.

- USDJPY registered lows under 109.60 with chatter of bids layered into 109.50,

the cross last deals at ~109.70. Tokyo is out on holiday on Thursday & Friday.

- AUD benefitted from stronger than expected trade data, with AUDUSD pushing

onto highs of 0.7527, last ~0.7520. It is worth noting that there is some

~A$1.00bln worth of 0.7500 option expiries at today's 10AM NY cut. NZDUSD also

benefitted from the broader based moderation in the USD during early

Asia-Pacific hours, adding around 20 pips to trade at ~0.7015.

- EURUSD advanced to a high of 1.1987, last at 1.1980, while cable had a brief

look at 1.3600, last 1.3595.

- UK services PMI, EZ CPI, ISM non-m'fing survey, as well as comments from ECB's

Coeure, Praet, Constancio, Hansson & Villeroy  will headline on Thursday.