Forex Today: Gold jumps in Asia on N. Korea risks, Eurozone Sentix eyed

Forex today in Asia kicked off on a volatile note on the back of the renewed North Korea risks, subsequently consolidated the moves amid broad based USD weakness. The USD/JPY pair attempted the recovery from a steep drop to 112.30 levels, while the Kiwi too tried to recover ground and fill in the opening bearish opening gap, but in vain, as downbeat Chinese services PMI release continued to weigh on the sentiment. The Aussie also suffered from the Chinese macro news, having turned negative near 0.7760 region.

Among other related markets, gold was the top performer in Asia, having gained sharply on North Korea fears, while the Asian markets traded higher amid thin liquidity, as the Japanese traders were off on a National Holiday.

Main topics in Asia

UK press: ONS understates inflation, may force the BOE to hike rates rapidly

An article from the UK Times says a mistake by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has led to inflation being understated and shall release a correction today.

China’s Caixin Services PMI unexpectedly slumps to 21-month lows in Sept

China 's Caixin September Services PMI came in at 50.6 vs 52.7 last and 53.1 expectations.

No signs of imminent North Korean provocations - Yonhap

South Korea’s state news agency, Yonhap, out with the latest headlines citing that there are no signs of imminent North Korean provocations ahead of its key anniversary this week.

NZD/USD: Will it close the bearish opening gap?

The NZD/USD pair is seen making minor-recovery attempts above 0.7050 levels, although lacks follow-through amid downbeat Chinese services PMI release and renewed North Korea risks.

UK's May signals foreign minister Johnson could be sacked

A Sunday newspaper said the British Prime Minister Theresa May has signaled that she could sack Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Key Focus ahead

Heading into Europe on Monday, we have the German industrial figures due on the cards ahead of the Europe open, while the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence data will fill in an otherwise quiet EUR session. The NA session has nothing to offer in terms of macro news, as both US and Canadian markets are closed in observance of Columbus Day and Thanksgiving Day respectively.

EUR/USD headed to 1.1800 ahead of Sentix?

The EUR/USD pair set-off a brand new week on a positive footing, as the bulls aim to take on the post-NFP recovery towards 1.1800 on the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence data release.

GBP/USD - Focus on UK PM May's speech & yield differential

GBP/USD was offered on Friday on fears that UK Prime Minister Theresa May would be forced out of her party. The currency pair dropped to a low of 1.3027 on Friday and ended the week at 1.3064 levels.

UK PM Theresa May to say "ball is in EU's court"

Prime Minister Theresa May will tell the European Union on today that "the ball is in their court". 

Today's event risk - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac noted the event risk for the start of this week.

The week ahead, preview of key scheduled data-events - Nomura

“While recent hurricanes continue to introduce uncertainty, we expect core CPI inflation to stabilize around 0.2% m-o-m in September, after a stronger-than-expected August.”