London, Aug. 8 (BridgeNews) - The following is a summary of overnight foreign exchange moves since Europe's close, plus possible leaders for the session ahead:
USD/Europe pushed modestly higher toward the end of an uneventful Asian trading session on Wednesday. The JPY was bid marginally higher, despite a Japanese official saying JPY weakness as a result of the BOJ's actions would not be resisted. In a press interview, ECB chief economist Issing said euro-zone inflation risks are currently balanced.
--USD/JPY traded a 123.50-123.65 range in U.S./Asian trading, and was pushing down toward the bottom of the range by late in the Asian session, despite a remark from Japanese Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Kuroda. Kuroda said that there has been no change in Japan's FX policy and that further BOJ easing is necessary to stop deflationary pressures. However, he added that the MOF would not resist JPY weakness as a result of BOJ easing.
Kyodo News reported sources in the IMF who said that the Fund is considering a downward revision of its 2001 Japanese growth projection to a 0.2% fall from the current 0.6% forecast increase.
Japan's business survey index fell to a reading of -33 in Q2 from -26 in Q1.
--EUR/JPY tracked EUR/USD lower to a 9-day low of 108.08.
--EUR/USD dropped to test Tuesday's 0.8753 low in late Asian trading while USD/CHF was lifted to an intraday high of 1.7206. In a Boersen Zeitung interview, ECB chief economist Issing said euro-zone inflationary risks are currently balanced, but that there are many risks to a further decline in the inflation rate. However, while saying that inflation is currently too high, he said he expects it to fall markedly in the next few months provided there are no external shocks.
German July final CPI rose 2.6% y/y, down from the provisionally reported 2.7% y/y increase. U.S. wholesale trade data for June is released at 1400 GMT.
--EUR/GBP tracked the EUR/USD lower to a 2-day low around 0.6170, though cable held out against USD strength to edge up within a narrow range and touch an intraday high around 1.4175. The BOE releases its quarterly inflation report at 0830 GMT. The report is likely to show that U.K. inflationary risks have declined, which will have opened the way for the rate cut last week. land registry releases its residential property report during the day.