Flipping around yesterday's headline
The aussie and kiwi are the laggards on the day so far as risk is dealt a blow in Asian trading. Weak Chinese economic data only helped to exacerbate fears of global growth slowdown and that saw both currencies took a hit while the yen is bid on the back of the fall in equities/yields.
The dollar is also gathering a bit of pace as we look to begin the session with the greenback gaining against the likes of the euro and the pound in the last hour. The trading range for EUR/USD remains relatively narrow though - just 19 pips - but as mentioned earlier, negative headlines from Italy's budget are likely to weigh on the single currency a little.
The pound is still seen going nowhere as the Brexit drama looks to encounter a pause. European leaders continue to remain vague about what sort of clarifications they are willing to offer to Theresa May as they are purposefully falling short on confirming whether or not they will offer legal assurances on the backstop.
Looking ahead, expect European equities to open much lower as the risk-off sentiment in markets continue to be the dominant theme as we close out the week. In that lieu, expect the dollar and yen to stay underpinned as the aussie and kiwi are to remain pressured.
