The Australian dollar is weighed lower after NAB raised its mortgage rates
There isn't much notable movement in the currencies space to start the day as trading ranges continue to be narrow and limited for the most part. However, the aussie is the main mover as it continues to come under pressure on the session with AUD/USD taking a peek below the 0.7100 handle currently.
The aussie fell after NAB joined the rest of the "Big Four" banks in raising mortgage rates, reminding markets that there are still genuine concerns surrounding the Australian economy and the RBA's ability to hike rates in the near future. The aussie's decline is also putting a bit of a drag on the kiwi as well as we begin the session.
Meanwhile, risk sentiment remains rather muted despite a decent performance by Asian equities. US equity futures are flat with similar sentiment seen in Treasuries, and that's not really helping to move yen pairs around by much on the day.
The focus in the session ahead will be on the euro as we'll have January flash PMI data to come before the ECB and Draghi later today. It's all about interpreting the figures to match the central bank's communique so a further slowdown here will reinforce the notion that we should see a more dovish stance taken by Draghi & co. when the time comes.
