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Weaker Commodities Continue To Weigh On AUD/USD, USD/JPY Dip Sub 134.00 Supported

FOREX

The USD has mostly been on the front in the first part of trading this week. We sit close to session highs for the BBDXY, last around 1226.75. This is below highs from late last week (around 1228.70), but the USD has generally been supported on dips. Weaker equities and commodities have aided the USD, with little flow on effects from the pull back in UST yields (-1.0-1.7bps lower across the curve) on the dollar.

  • USD/JPY started the session on the back foot, back down through 134.00 but quickly recovered to back in the 134.40/50 region now. New BoJ Governor Ueda spoke in parliament and appeared to push back against any fresh YCC tweaks at Friday's policy meeting. Friday highs in USD/JPY came close to 134.50, so this act as a near term focus point for the market.
  • AUD/USD remains on the back foot, down to 0.6675, off by a further 0.25%. This is through Friday session lows. Iron ore has fallen again, down nearly 3% in terms of the active Singapore contract to $105/ton. Oil has also weakened, along with gold.
  • NZD/USD is a touch lower, but is outperforming the AUD at the margins. NZD last at 0.6135. Note tomorrow is ANZAC day in AU and NZ, which will leave both markets closed and may have impacted liquidity today.
  • EUR/USD is touch lower, last near 1.0980, while GBP/USD steady around 1.2435.
  • Looking further ahead, we have the German IFO out later, along with the ECB's Panetta. In the US, the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey is the main focus point from a data standpoint.

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