01:00 New Zealand NBNZ Business Confidence August 19.5 17.0
The dollar declined against most of its major counterparts as Asian stocks extended gains, reducing demand for haven assets. The greenback weakened against the Australian dollar after China’s central bank pumped a record amount of money into the financial system this week, spurring speculation the nation will act to support growth. The People’s Bank of China injected a net 365 billion yuan ($57.9 billion) via reverse-repurchase operations and bill redemptions this week, the most since Bloomberg started compiling the data in 2008, compared with 101 billion yuan last week. The monetary authority offered 130 billion yuan of 28-day reverse repo agreements and 50 billion yuan of 14-day contracts today, according to a statement.
Demand for the euro was limited before Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy submits a fifth package of budget cuts as demonstrators gathered in Madrid yesterday. Gains in the euro were limited after Spanish bonds dropped yesterday, sending the yields on 10-year securities above 6 percent for the first time since Sept. 18. Catalan President Artur Mas called early elections for Nov. 25, as Rajoy struggles to gain acceptance for austerity measures and faces criticism from European leaders for delaying a decision on an international bailout for the nation.
EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair restored to $1.2900.
GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair rose to $1.6200.
USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of Y77.60-75.