Fundamental Headlines
· USDJPY – All Industry Activity Indicator drops 0.4 percent as expected due to unfavorable weather impacting retail activity and earthquake-linked damage and production halts from factories.
· NZDUSD – The steady trend of consumer spending on credit has still not shown a significant reaction to the RBNZ’s four consecutive rate hikes that brought the OCR to 8.25 percent. Without a confirmed cooling trend in the consumer sector, Governor Alan Bollard may be unable to deliver a cut.
· EURUSD – Current account surplus shrinks to 1.7 billion euros as high currency takes its toll on goods and services. PMI services and manufacturing activity gauges fall to 54.0 and 53.2 respectively in September. Both gauges marking their slowest pace in two years.
· Flaherty Says the `Real Story' in Rise to Parity Is U.S. Dollar's Weakness - Bloomberg
· US rate moves not major constraint on China central bank policy - central banker - Forbes
· China to Limit Investments in Hong Kong Stock Market - Bloomberg
· New Zealand Dollar Poised for Biggest Weekly Gain in 7 Years - Bloomberg
· Spot gold jumps to 28-year high - Reuters
· Northern Rock turned down JP Morgan rescue proposal - Telegraph