U.S. Election Interference Risk Keeps Asia On Cautious Side

Mild risk aversion took hold as top U.S. intelligence officials told reporters that Iran and Russia have been trying to disrupt the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Price action was relatively limited, with little more to give it some further impetus. The greenback outperformed all of its G10 peers. Commodity-linked FX were the laggards, although NZD managed to shake off earlier weakness.

• Demand for USD pushed USD/CNH higher. A softer than expected PBoC fix failed to immediately extend the upswing, but the rate picked up a bid later on amid continued USD purchases.
• USD/KRW moved away from multi-month lows as South Korean FinMin Hong told lawmakers that one-sided FX moves are not good for domestic economy and pledged readiness to stabilise FX markets if needed.
• U.S. initial jobless claims, existing home sales, EZ consumer confidence and speeches from Fed's Barkin & Kaplan, ECB's Panetta, BoE's Bailey & Haldane and Norges Bank's Olsen take focus from here.