Earlier in the Day:

Economic data released through the Asian session this morning included and Australia’s September AIG manufacturing index figures and 3^rd quarter Tankan survey numbers out of Japan.

For the Aussie Dollar, the AIG Manufacturing Index rose from 56.7 to 59 in September.

• New orders rose to the highest level since March, with exports expanding at a quicker pace.

• The employment sub-index reflected a faster pace of hiring, with the average wages sub-index showing a continued pickup in wage growth.

• While the production sub-index reflected a quicker pace of output, the sales sub-index eased, though still considered to be at a positive level.

• Manufacturing selling price sub-index reflected softer output price inflation, while input price inflation sub-index rose to its highest level since March 2011.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.7224 to $0.72286 upon release of the figures, before easing to $0.7223 at the time of writing, down 0.01% for the session.

For the Japanese Yen, the 3^rd quarter Tankan Survey numbers were skewed to the negative:

• The Tankan All Big Industry CAPEX rose by 13.4%, down from the previous quarter’s 13.6 and short of a forecasted 14.2% increase.

• The Tankan Big Manufacturing Outlook Index stood at 19 for the 3^rd quarter, which was in line with forecast, whilst sentiment deteriorated from a 2^nd quarter 21.

• The Tankan Large Manufacturers Index also stood at 19, fall short of a forecasted increase to 22 from a 2^nd quarter 21. It was a 3^rd consecutive decline.

• The Tankan Large non-Manufacturers Index stood at 22 for the 3^rd quarter, which was in line with forecasts, whilst down from a 2^nd quarter 24.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥113.814 to ¥113.774 against the Dollar, upon release of the figures, before falling to ¥113.85 at the time of writing, down 0.13% for the session,

Elsewhere, the Kiwi Doll was up 0.05% to $0.6622, the Kiwi managing to brush off the Sunday numbers out of China, with support coming from the previous week’s stats.

In the equity markets, with the China markets closed for the week and the Hang Seng closed for the day, it was down to the Nikkei and ASX200, which were mixed at the time of writing. The Nikkei was up 0.30%, supported by an agreement by Trump not to hit Japan with tariffs as trade talks continue, easing back from larger gains in the session. By contrast, the ASX200 was down 0.55%.

Private sector PMI numbers out of China on Sunday didn’t help the cause for the ASX200 going into the 4^th quarter, with China’s September NBS Manufacturing PMI falling from 51.3 to 50.8 and the Caixin Manufacturing PMI falling from 50.6 to 50.0 reflecting a stagnation in September.