Major currencies mostly calm to start the day
There has been little movement in the currencies space as markets are still relatively calm amid US-China trade tensions still lingering. There has been little of anything fresh since the retaliatory tariffs headlines on Monday and markets are generally in a less jittery mood on the surface at least.
However, the aussie is still finding it tough on the week as it is weighed lower after Chinese economic data earlier today disappointed. That raises further questions about China and the global economy but local authorities were quick to chime in and boost hopes of further stimulus down the road.
The question remains though, with so much efforts already being undertaken to boost the economy, things are still not really improving. So, how much more can authorities keep this up in order to calm the nerves of market participants?
Anyway, the aussie also has sluggish wages data earlier and elections to come on the weekend to deal with so expect the currency to remain pinned down this week. Meanwhile, the kiwi has also been dragged lower on similar reasoning from Chinese data earlier.
The rest of the market is more calm with EUR/USD trading in a 10 pips range and GBP/USD trading in a 9 pips range. So much for volatility, eh?
Nonetheless, watch out for yen pairs as they should be the more active ones considering the fact that markets are still keeping a close watch on US-China trade tensions. There's hope for some recovery in risk assets as things start to settle down, but don't expect it to turn into any major risk-on rally so long as tensions are still elevated as they are now.
