USD holds close to eight week high ahead of...>

FOREX: USD holds close to eight week high ahead of GDP

-The greenback holds close to yesterday's highs, with Thursday's negative close

for US equities helping fuel a modest risk-off tone early Friday. The DJIA and

S&P500 closed with losses of around 0.5%, although European markets are faring

better, with core up around 0.1%, while peripheral indices are in the red.

-Elsewhere, markets have been quiet, allowing recent trends to extend. The close

below the 50-dma in AUD/USD Thursday has ushered in fresh losses this morning,

prompting AUD bears to re-focus on the mid-July lows at $0.6911. JPY also trades

well, sitting modestly higher against most others in G10, dragging EUR/JPY off

the ECB-inspired highs of Y121.38 printed yesterday.

-As ECB risk subsides, implied vol measures have turned south, with DMFX 1m

measures generally lower (excepting GBP)

-US advance GDP for Q2 takes focus from here, expected to slip to 1.8% on the

Q/Q annualized reading from 3.1% previously. The speaker slate is empty, keeping

focus on global central bank policy.