The euro hit a new 2014 low at 1.3454

Good Morning,

- The euro hit a new 2014 low at 1.3454, after broke below the psychological $1.35 level on Tuesday.

- Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday as investors' risk appetite began to return, despite the geopolitical tensions in Gaza & East Ukraine. Japan's Nikkei -0.10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.44% (07:06 GMT), Korea's Kospi -0.03%, Australia's ASX 200 0.60% and China's Shanghai 0.14%.

- The dollar index held close to a six-week peak in Asian trade at 80.773, not far from a Tuesday high of 80.837.

- JPMorgan on EUR/USD: Maintained that the clear-cut break of $1.3477 "should confirm the deteriorating medium term setup particularly following the bearish reversal in May with deeper targets near $1.3400-1.3295." The euro bottomed around $1.3400 November 21, 2013 and $1.3296 November 7, 2013. On the topside, "the $1.3552-75 area should now maintain the more immediate downside bias,"

- Credit Agricole strategists were not yet convinced that the day of the dollar had begun, especially versus the euro. "In the month ahead, we expect the euro to be more resilient to carry pressures versus the dollar," they said. "This resilience will be facilitated by ongoing capital inflows into European bond markets and a rebound in relative equity performance," they said. CA has lowered their September 2014 forecast to $1.3700 from $1.3900 prior, their December 2014 forecast to $1.3200 from $1.3700 and their March 2015 forecast to $1.3000 from $1.3200.

- Violence continued in Gaza, but hopes rose for an easing of tension in Ukraine after pro-Russian rebels handed the flight recorders and victims' remains from a downed Malaysian airliner to international authorities.

- BOJ’s Nakaso says reaction to sales tax increase is within expectations. Private consumption has been resilient. Sales tax hike reduces real household income so BOJ must watch it impact on consumption. BOJ to watch geopolitical risks like Ukraine and Middle East.

- Chinese banks will probably offer discounted mortgage rates to their clients in the second half of 2014 as demand in the country’s housing market weakens, according to a Bloomberg survey.

- Australian dollar trade on a bullish tone after RBA’s Steven on Tuesday chose not to talk down the currency. It spiked to a nearly two-week high of $0.9447 on surprisingly high core inflation figures that dented rate cut expectations.

- Vladimir Putin’s pursuit of war in the Ukraine has cost Russian billionaires dearly, a sinkhole that has deepened since the destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in pro-Russian territory last week. Of the 20 Russians included in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, 14 have lost money this year. As a group, the Russians have together lost more than $16 billion, or 7 percent of their total wealth.

- Islamic State militants seized four small oilfields when they swept through north Iraq last month and are now selling crude oil and gasoline from them to finance their newly declared "caliphate".

- Friday's CFTC data showed that speculative accounts had a net euro short position of -62,846 contracts as of July 15, compared to the prior week's net short of -59,256 contracts and the net long of +32,551 contracts, seen as of May 6.

- Watch today: France business sentiment, UK trades survey, EU confidence.

Have a nice Day!