Asian session: The dollar fell

00:30 Australia MI Inflation Gauge, m/m July 0.0% +0.5%

00:30 Australia MI Inflation Gauge, y/y July +2.4% +2.7%

01:30 Australia Retail sales (MoM) June +0.2% Revised From +0.1% +0.4% 0.0%

01:30 Australia Retail Sales Y/Y June +2.3% +1.1%

01:45 China HSBC Services PMI July 51.3 51.3

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index remained lower after Chinese data signaled a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy is moderating, sapping demand for the greenback as a haven asset. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 54.1 last month from 53.9 in June, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Aug. 3. A separate report from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said today that their services PMI was unchanged in July at 51.3. A reading above 50 signals expansion.

The dollar fell for a second day against the yen after a U.S. government report on Aug. 2 showed employers added fewer-than-estimated workers in July, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of bond purchases. In the U.S., Labor Department figures showed on Aug. 2 that payrolls rose by 162,000 in July, the smallest gain in four months and compared with the 185,000 increase projected in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent.

New Zealand’s dollar tumbled against all of its major peers after China halted imports of milk powder from Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. Auckland-based Fonterra, the world’s largest dairy exporter, said Aug. 3 that three batches of a whey protein made at a New Zealand plant last year may contain bacteria that can cause botulism. Dairy products make up about a quarter of the South Pacific nation’s total overseas sales, which in turn account for about a third of economic output. Fonterra collects 89 percent of the milk produced in the country.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range of $ 1.3265-80

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range of $ 1.5260-90

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair traded in a range of Y98.70-15

Financial markets in the Eurozone are heading lazily into the traditional summer lull as policy marker retire to their holiday retreats.  This morning sees the release of Spanish final PMI data at 0713GMT, Italy at 0743GMT, France at 0748GMT, Germany at 0753GMT and the EMU PMI numbers at 0758GMT. Analyst forecasts see German final services PMI coming in at 52.5 - unchanged on the June reading, with France at 48.3 and the EMU final services PMI at 49.6.

At 0828GMT, the UK July CIPS/Markit Services PMI data will be released. Across the Atlantic, there is a limited calendar in the US. Both main data releases are expected at 1400GMT, when both the July Employment Trends Index and the July ISM non-manufacturing PMI numbers.At 1545GMT, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher is slated to deliver a speech on the economy, in Portland, Oregon.