Asian session: Australia’s dollar slid

00:30 Australia Construction Work Done Quarter IV +3.0% Revised From +2.7% +0.4% -1.0%

Australia’s dollar slid against its major peers after iron-ore prices touched a seven-month low while the yuan was near the weakest since July as the People’s Bank of China brought down its reference rate. Iron ore prices for Chinese imports declined for a fifth day to $119.10 a metric ton yesterday, the lowest since July 1, according to data from The Steel Index Ltd. Australia’s statistics bureau said today construction work done in the nation in the fourth quarter fell 1 percent, compared with economist forecasts for a 0.2 percent increase.

A gauge of trader expectations of future currency swings dropped to the lowest in more than a year before Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks tomorrow, with investors looking for the central bank’s view on the economic impact of winter weather. Yellen said this month that the economy has strengthened enough to withstand cuts to monetary stimulus, adding that only a notable change to the outlook would prompt the central bank to slow the pace of tapering its bond purchases.

Bookings for durable goods meant to last at least three years are estimated to have decreased for a second straight month in January, a separate Bloomberg survey shows ahead of a Commerce Department report due tomorrow.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $1.3735-45

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $1.6670-90

USD / JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose to Y102.40

The European calendar gets underway at 0710GMT, with the release of the German March GfK consumer confidence data. Back on the Continent, at 1300GMT, ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch is scheduled to give a keynote speech at the Luxembourg Renminbi Forum, in Luxembourg. Further European data is set for release at 1600GMT, when the French January registered job seekers data will hit the screens. Across the Atlantic, the US calendar gets underway at 1200GMT, with the release of the MBA Mortgage Index for the Feb 21 week. At 1500GMT, the US January New Home Sales data will cross the wires. The EIA Crude Oil Stocks for the Feb 22 week will be published at 1530GMT. Late appearances from Fed speakers will see Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren deliver a speech on the economic outlook, in Boston. Just after midnight UK time, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto delivers a speech on the history of the Fed, in Wooster, Ohio.