Despite
comments from Klaus Knot of the Dutch central bank over the weekend
suggesting a 2022 ECB rate hike (Knot does tend towards the hawkish
side though) the euro lost ground during the session. It drifted 30
or so points down from early highs without much in the way of a
notable catalyst. USD was a touch broader though, up against CHF and
GBP
in
small ranges. N
ot
a lot changed against AUD, NZD, yen.
The
data focus today was on Australian retail sales, which bounced back
in Q4 2021 at a record quarterly pace. China’s services PMI
(Caixin/Markit) slipped to its lowest expansionary reading in 5
months in January.
China
returned
from the week-long holiday today, setting the onshore yuan much
weaker than expected and sparking further devaluation chatter.
Stocks
in China opened strongly, on a catch-up trade.
Some late news, Australia is reopening
- international border will re-open to double vaccinated tourists and other visitors on Feb 21