Forex Today: Aussie weakest in Asia risk-off, eyes on BOE inflation report hearings

Forex today in Asia witnessed risk-off market profile for the second day in a row this Monday, as the Asian stocks tracked the heavy losses in their Wall Street counterparts. Amid risk-aversion, the Aussie was the biggest loser while the Yen recovered ground and dragged the USD/JPY pair back to the 112.50 level. The Aussie faced rejected at 0.7300 and from there dropped sharply to 0.7270 following the IMF warnings on the Australian economy. The rest of the majors stuck to tight trading ranges amid a broadly subdued US dollar while markets await fresh updates around the European politics for further trading impetus.

Both crude benchmarks traded on the back foot ahead of the OPEC-Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meetings while gold prices on Comex remains stuck below the 1225 level amid slightly higher Treasury yields.  

Main Topics in Asia

Northern Irish DUP party fires warning shot at UK PM May - Reuters

Japan's Aso: PM has ordered supplementary budget

RBA November meeting minutes: No strong case for a near term move

BoJ’s Kuroda: Chance of hitting inflation target in FY2020 is low

Trump Administration considering adding Venezuela to US list of state sponsors of terrorism

N. Korea urges Japan to withdraw support for US-led sanctions - Yonhap

Gold: 100-day EMA is proving a tough nut to crack for third straight day

Mexico expects US to begin lifting tariffs with USMCA deal signing´

Asian stocks are a sea of red, the Shanghai Composite is trapping bulls no wrong side of the market

Key Focus Ahead

The EUR economic calendar remains data-light for the second straight day this week, with the second-liner German producer price index data slated for release at 0700 GMT alongside the release of the Swiss trade numbers. At 0820 GMT, the RBA Governor Lowe’s speech will be published, as he is due to deliver a speech titled "Trust and Prosperity" at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia Annual Dinner, in Melbourne.

The main focus in Europe will be on the Bank of England (BOE) inflation report hearings due at 1000 GMT when the BOE Governor Carney will testify before the Parliamentary Treasury Select Committee (TSC) along with MPC's Haldane, Cuncliffe and Saunders. Markets will watch out for fresh take of the central bank on the latest Brexit developments. Meanwhile, the Brexit-related headlines will continue to drive the sentiment across the fx board.

In the NA session, the US housing starts and building permits data will be reported at 1330 GMT, followed by New Zealand’s GDT price index around 1400 GMT. At 1500 GMT, we have the ECB Vice-President Weidmann speaking at the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority Conference, in Frankfurt. Also, of note remains the speeches by the BOC Governing Council members Wilkins and Lane that are due at 1800 GMT and 2200 GMT respectively. The US API fuel stocks data will be published at 2130 GMT.

It’s also worth noting that the OPEC-Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meetings are scheduled later on Tuesday, which will have a major bearing on the oil market.

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