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Tight Ranges To Start, AU Retail Sales Coming Up, Then China PMIs

FOREX

Overall FX ranges have been tight in the first part of trade. The BBDXY sits just under 1225, little change from NY closing levels. US cash Tsy yields are a touch higher in the first part of trade, led by the front end (2yr +1.4bps to 4.248%). US equity futures are in positive territory, +0.20% for the S&P and Nasdaq at this stage. Regional equities are mixed.

  • USD/JPY is down from early session highs, the pair getting to 130.53, but we now sit back at 130.40/45. Japan data was mixed the unemployment rate steady at 2.5%, along with the job-to-applicant ratio at 1.35. It remains to be seen if this is enough to generate meaningful upside in Japan wages from a broader labor market perspective. IP and retail sales were better than expected.
  • AUD/USD is close to unchanged at 0.7055/60 currently. Early lows near 0.7050 were supported. NZD/USD is a touch firmer, last near 0.6470/75.
  • Coming up shortly is AU Dec retail sales, the market expects -0.2% m/m, versus +1.4% prior. Then a little later is the official China PMI prints for Dec. The market expects a decent recovery in both the manufacturing and services PMIs (manufacturing to 50.1 from 47.0, services to 52.0 from 41.6).

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