An increase in Australian business confidence led to investor risk taking during overnight trading, which boosted higher-yielding assets. The AUD/USD gained close to 40 pips to reach as high as 1.0454, while the price of crude oil advanced close to $0.50 a barrel to trade as high as $96.93, a more than four-month high.
The USD/JPY gained more than 50 pips during the first part of the Asian session before peaking at 91.00, just below a recent 2 ½ year high. The pair saw a minor downward correction later in the night, and is currently trading at 90.65.
Main News for Today
US CB Consumer Confidence- 15:00 GMT
• Today’s figure is forecasted to come in at 64.8, slightly below last month’s 65.1
• A worse than expected figure may lead to risk aversion in the marketplace, which would boost safe-haven currencies like the USD and JPY
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