International Trading

Previous session overview

The yen marked a nearly nine-year high against the euro, while the dollar slipped below the key JPY85 level in Asia Tuesday, as weakness in Tokyo shares stoked fears about the pace of global economic growth and encouraged short-term players to buy the safe-haven yen.
The euro slipped to JPY107.21, its lowest level since November 2001, compared with JPY107.95 in New York Monday. The U.S. unit dipped to a five-day low of JPY84.85, compared with JPY85.25.
The falls came after the Nikkei Stock Average briefly dropped below 9,000 for the first time since May 2009, causing currency players to shun risk and flee to yen safety, traders said.
The dollar, considered next in line as a safe haven after the yen, gained broadly in tandem with growing risk aversion. The greenback rose across the board against Asian currencies Tuesday, hitting one-week highs versus the Chinese yuan, the Korean won, the Indian rupee and the Philippine peso, as well as a three-week high against the Taiwan dollar. Asian traders cited the weaker euro as a drag on local currencies.
The euro slipped to a one-month low of USD1.2620 compared with USD1.2665 in New York Monday.
The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, climbed to a one-month high of 84.434 in the Asian session from 83.143 overnight.
GBPUSD was lower as weak Japanese shares weighed on investors' views on global economic outlook. Also, risk appetite came under pressure after U.K. newspaper The Times quoted a leading policymaker at BoE as saying that the U.K. faces a significant risk of a renewed slide into recession, said analysts.
The Australian dollar slid in Asia trade Tuesday, weighed down by weakness in stocks globally and continued political uncertainty locally.

Market expectation

Investors will likely watch share prices, forthcoming U.S. housing data and euro-zone debt auctions to gauge the health of global economy. Market participants are also focusing on any remarks by government officials.
Economists expect U.S. existing home sales, due at 1400 GMT, to fall 14.3% in July compared with a 5.1% decline in June.
Spain plans to sell EUR3.5 billion to EUR4.5 billion of three-month and six-month bonds later in the day. If the results rekindle concerns over global growth and push equities lower, the dollar may fall to JPY84.80 and the euro to JPY107.20, dealers said.
EURCHF's recent decline slowed above psychological support at 1.3100 but if this level is breached there is further downside potential, says analyst. A decline below the recent low of 1.3074 could trigger further losses and re-awake the Swiss National Bank, says analysts.
European stocks are expected to open lower Tuesday, following a late selloff on Wall Street, as even a raft of merger and acquisition news fails to boost sentiment.

Most important events of the day

24-Aug	Count.	Event	For	Unit	Imp.	Act.	Cons.	Prev.
0:00	LU	Prime Minister Juncker and FinMin Frieden meet with Russian President Mendvedev in Sotchi			Low
0:00	EU	French Budget Minister Baroin meets German FinMin Schaeble			Low
6:00	DE	GDP (sa) (Final)	Q2	% q/q	Low	2.2	2.2	2.2
6:00	DE	GDP (wda) (Final)	Q2	% y/y	Low	3.7	3.7	3.7
8:30	GB	BBA Mortgage Approvals	Jul	k	Med		34	34.8
8:30	GB	Total Business Investment (P)	Q2		Med
12:30	US	Fed Reserve Bank of Chicago President Evans speaks in Indianapolis			Low
14:00	US	Existing home sales	Jul	mn	Low		4.65	5.37
16:15	CA	BoC Deputy Governor Murray speaks on "Research and Renewal of Canada's Inflation Target"			Low
23:50	JP	CSPI	Jul	index	Low		-1	-1