Forex Today: AUD dumped in Asia, UK construction PMI, French TV debate eyed

A quiet Asian-affair this Wednesday, as the Japanese traders are on a three-day holiday-break, leaving markets with lows volumes and minimal volatility. Amongst the Asia-pac currencies, Aussie was the worst performer amid AUD/NZD driven weakness and falling copper prices. Meanwhile, strong NZ jobs report boosted the Kiwi nicely earlier on the day.

Broad based US dollar selling stalled, as investors gear up for the key US ADP jobs and ISM services PMI data due on the cards ahead of the FOMC monetary policy decision. In the meantime, focus remains on the German employment data, UK construction PMI and Eurozone prelim flash GDP report lined up for release in the European session ahead. Apart from the data, the French election televised debate will also garner attention.

Main topics in Asia

NZD/USD boosted by NZ jobs report: key points broken down - ANZ

Analysts at ANZ offered a breakdown of the key points from today's impressive unemployment NZ report.

RBA releases the May 2017 issue of the Chart Pack

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has released the May 2017 issue of the Chart Pack, which provides summaries of macroeconomic and financial market trends in Australia.

The rate of deflation is decelerating due to weaker Pound - BRC

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) data released earlier today showed the era of shop price deflation is coming to an end.

Oil strengthens on bullish API report

Oil strengthened on both sides of the Atlantic after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a bigger-than-expected draw in the US oil inventories.

Key Focus ahead

Macron and Le Pen to square off In TV debate today

France’s Presidential candidates - centrist Macron and far right’s Marine Le Pen go head-to-head on Wednesday in a televised debate.

GBP/USD: Bulls target 1.2970 ahead of construction PMI, FOMC

The GBP/USD pair built onto yesterday’s recovery gains beyond 1.29 handle in Asia, now looking to regain 1.2950 barrier amid a broadly subdued US dollar and moderate risk-on.

FOMC Preview: Expect only limited changes to the statement - GS

Goldman Sachs’ (GS) economists provide a brief sneak peek on what to expect from the FOMC monetary policy decision due at 1800GMT later today.

Key event risks for Europe and US - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac offered today's event risks as follows:

Key US data previews: FOMC and ADP employment report - Nomura

"ADP employment report: In line with our forecast for BLS private payrolls, we expect ADP private employment to have gained additional 180k jobs in March (Consensus: 175k).”