By XE Market Analysis
The Dollar is at near net unchanged levels heading into the New York interbank open, while the Pound is up over 0.5% versus the U.S. currency and the Australian dollar down by almost 0.5%. The UK's currency was lifted after EU's chief Brexit negotiator Barnier said that the EU is "open to discussing other backstops" while the Aussie underperformed due to Australia's exposure to China, which looks at imminent risk of being hit by U.S. tariff hikes on another $200 bln worth of its exports. Cable logged a one-week high at 1.3038 while AUD-USD hit a 31-month low at 0.7137, subsequently lifting back above 0.7150. EUR-USD, meanwhile, held a narrow range in the low 1.1600s as markets anticipate today's release of the August U.S. jobs report (we're forecasting a 210k increase in employment, with a dip in the unemployment rate to 3.8%, and a 0.2% increase in earnings). USD-JPY logged a low at 110.38 before recouping toward 111.0 amid position trimming into the U.S. jobs report, while AUD-JPY fell by over 0.5% on route to posting fresh 22-month lows. Emerging market currencies are holding steady for a second day, and some of the most recently shaken have managed something of a rebound. The MSCI Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) equity index fell to a 14-month low in what is now the indexes worse performance since March.
