Earlier in the Day:

It was a relatively quiet day on the Asian economic calendar in the earlier hours of this morning.

Key stats included November building approval figures out of Australia.

Outside of the stats, Iran retaliated to last week’s U.S airstrike, with news hitting the wires in the early hours of attacks on military bases in Iraq. With the bases holding U.S interests, the latest move suggests possible war as the U.S sends more troops to the region.

For Japanese Yen

While there were no material stats to provide direction, the news from overnight and early this morning drove demand for the Yen.

At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was up by 0.69% to ¥107.69 against the greenback.

For the Aussie Dollar

Building approvals jumped by 11.8% in November, month-on-month, reversing an 8.1% slide in October. Economists had forecast a 2.1% increase.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.68530 to $0.68552 upon release of the figures, before pulling back. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was down by 0.24% to $0.68529, with the risk-off sentiment weighing.

Elsewhere

The Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.36% to $0.6619, with risk aversion weighing early in the day.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR

It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. Key stats include November factory order figures out of Germany and finalized business and consumer confidence figures for the Eurozone.

Following December’s dire manufacturing PMI out of Germany, the figures will need to impress to provide the EUR with support.

For the Eurozone, finalized business and consumer confidence figures should have a muted impact on the EUR, barring any revisions…

With stats on the lighter side, however, we expect the focus to remain on the Middle East as the situation deteriorates.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.09% to $1.1163.

For the Pound

It’s a relatively busy day ahead on the economic calendar. December house prices figures are due out later this morning along with 3^rd quarter labor productivity numbers

We expect the Pound to brush aside the house price numbers, with the market reaction towards Iran’s moves and likely U.S response driving the majors.

3^rd quarter labor productivity numbers may garner some interest though. With expectations of a pickup in economic activity in the wake of the General Election result, any downside would likely be limited, however.

At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.08% to $1.3115.

Across the Pond

It’s also a relatively busy day on the data front. Key stats include December’s ADP Nonfarm Employment Change numbers.