USD Bid In Early Asia

The greenback has caught a bid in early Asia, rising in the wake of some headlines that US House Speaker Pelosi would bring impeachment proceedings against US President Trump this week.

• US National Security Adviser O'Brien has said the US is considering an additional response to China over coronavirus and arrests made in Hong Kong, while the Trump administration said Saturday the US would remove its restrictions on diplomatic interactions with Taiwan. This has hit sentiment in the region.
• USD/JPY is higher, last up 12 pips at 104.06, JPY seeing some weakness after the discovery of a coronavirus variant similar to the UK strain. Japanese markets are shut for Coming of Age day.
• AUD/USD down some 42 pips at 0.7715, breaking below Friday's low. There is chatter of sell stops offset against 0.7725 strikes with AUD 1.23bn rolling off today. An upbeat final reading of November retail sales failed to reverse sentiment. NZD/USD similarly under pressure having fallen below the 0.72 handle, last at 0.7195.
• GBP under some pressure on chatter of tighter lockdown measures in the UK, the Telegraph ran a piece saying the government are considering tightening restrictions on advice of scientists. GBP/USD last down 48 pips at 1.3519.
• The PBOC fixed USD/CNY midpoint at 6.4764, roughly in line with sell side estimates and around 56 pips higher than the previous fix as USD bounces and amid some renewed tensions between US and China.