Asia Session

The US Dollar stayed buoyant in Asia as stocks fell and concerns about the fragile global economy ahead of a hefty earnings week on Wall Street keep traders pointed to safe havens. The Yen remained stable despite political unrest in Tokyo as Prime Minister Aso's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was handed another major election defeat that could herald the end of power for the party. Aso has called for an election on August 30th, where the surging Democratic Party may be able to take the reigns from the unpopular LDP. Most traders continued to focus on the bigger global picture so today's events looked to be muted.

USD/JPY treaded lightly in a 55 pip range, and ultimately ended the session approximately 20 pips higher than the 92.38ish open. Yen crosses started the session higher as stocks came close to flat, but then dropped later in the day following the stock market decline. GBP/JPY popped up to 150.65ish and as the equities sunk, this pair dropped below the 149.00 figure. EUR/JPY looked to be net flat for the day as of this writing, close to its 128.80 open after swinging as high as 129.85. The AUD/JPY was down a full handle from its earlier high near 72.70 as lower commodities, most notably oil, damaged the Aussie dollar. The Aussie sunk about 40 pips against the dollar as well, sinking to near 0.7750, and despite some good retail sales data, the NZD/USD dropped from highs near 0.6295 to just under 0.6235.

The Dollar also made positive moves versus the Euro, as the stink of Eastern Europe's financial woes continue to be hard to mask. The EUR/USD gained about 40 pips on the open but failed to maintain as it dropped 60 pips to current lows near 1.3915. Although opening a hair above the 1.6200 level, GBP/USD looked to possibly slip below 1.6100 by the London open. All eyes will be on the US this week as traders try to gauge risk based on earnings reports and subsequent equity reactions. Looking to next week, it is currently being stated that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will lay out the Federal Reserves monetary exit strategy in his testimony to congress next Tuesday.

Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session) prior expected