Australian dollar remains steady in range after RBA left the cash rate unchanged at 1.50% as widely expected. Nothing new is be unveiled in the statement. The central bank maintained a neutral stance and noted that "the Board judged that holding the stance of policy unchanged at this meeting would be consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time." Also from Australia, current account deficit narrowed to AUD -11.4b in Q3. Technically, AUD/USD is facing a near term resistance at 0.7500. EUR/AUD also just recovered off 1.4072 near term support. There is mild prospect of more downside in Aussie in near term.
Euro stays firm in Asian session as markets' focuses now shift from Italy referendum to ECB meeting. The central bank is expected to finally announce what it will do after the current EUR 80b a month asset purchase program ends in March. Currently markets are anticipating a six month extension to the program. But growing political uncertainty in the region might prompt ECB to act more than expected. Meanwhile Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said that the result of the referendum in Italy was "certainly not the end of the world". And, Weidmann emphasized that ECB's decision should based exclusively on inflation outlook, rather than political considerations.
Chicago Fed president Charles Evans said that US is "on the cusp of a period of rising interest rates." He expressed agreement on president-elect Donald Trump's expansive policies and said that "an infrastructure plan would be terrific" and "corporate tax rationalization would be a huge improvement." Though, he noted that "explicit stimulus" is not needed with current low unemployment rate. Meanwhile, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard emphasized that US is "not in recession today" and the fiscal policies "should not be viewed as countercyclical measures". Meanwhile, Bullard noted that "if you put the right public capital in place it could improve productivity and you would have a higher trend growth rate."
Elsewhere, Japan labor cash earnings rose 0.1% yoy in October. UK BRC retail sales monitor rose 0.6% yoy in November. Looking ahead, Eurozone Q3 GDP final, retail PMI and German factory orders will be featured in European session. Swiss will release CPI. US will release trade balance and factory orders. Canada will release trade balance and Ivey PMI.