Foreign exchange market. Asian session: the U.S. dollar strengthened

Economic calendar (GMT0):

Time/ Region/ Event/ Period/ Previous/ Forecast/ Actual

00:30 Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence August -3.2% 7.8%

01:30 Australia Wage Price Index, y/y Quarter II 2.3% 2.3% 2.3%

01:30 Australia Wage Price Index, q/q Quarter II 0.5% 0.6% 0.6%

04:30 Japan Industrial Production (YoY) (Finally) June -3.9% 2.0%

04:30 Japan Industrial Production (MoM) (Finally) June -2.1% 0.8% 0.8%

05:30 China Industrial Production y/y July 6.8% 6.6% 6.0%

05:30 China Retail Sales y/y July 10.6% 10.6% 10.5%

05:30 China Fixed Asset Investment June 11.4% 11.5% 11.2%

The U.S. dollar advanced against major currencies after the People's Bank of China unexpectedly conducted 1.9% yuan devaluation.

Investors intensified purchases of the dollar as they seem to be convinced that the U.S. economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Higher rates would make the U.S. dollar more attractive for investors seeking higher yields.

Yuan devaluation weighed on the Australian and New Zealand dollars. The Kiwi fell to a six-year low against the greenback. The unexpected move by the PBOC outweighed favorable data on the Australian economy. Westpac reported that the index of confidence of Australian consumers rose by 7.8% to 99.5 in August, although it remained below the 100 threshold, which separates pessimism from optimism.

EUR/USD: the pair fluctuated within $1.1025-60 in Asian trade

USD/JPY: the pair rose to Y125.25

GBP/USD: the pair declined to $1.5535

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

(time / country / index / period / previous value / forecast)

08:30 United Kingdom Average earnings ex bonuses, 3 m/y June 2.8% 2.8%

08:30 United Kingdom Average Earnings, 3m/y June 3.2% 2.8%

08:30 United Kingdom ILO Unemployment Rate June 5.6% 5.6%

08:30 United Kingdom Claimant count July 7 1.5

09:00 Eurozone Industrial production, (MoM) June -0.4% -0.2%

09:00 Eurozone Industrial Production (YoY) June 1.6% 1.5%

09:00 Switzerland Credit Suisse ZEW Survey (Expectations) August -5.4

10:00 Australia RBA Assist Gov Lowe Speaks

11:00 U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications August 4.7%

12:30 U.S. FOMC Member Dudley Speak

14:00 U.S. JOLTs Job Openings June 5.363 5.3

14:30 U.S. Crude Oil Inventories August -4.407 -2.0

18:00 U.S. Federal budget July 51.8 -132

22:30 New Zealand Business NZ PMI July 55.2

23:50 Japan Core Machinery Orders June 0.6% -5.6%

23:50 Japan Core Machinery Orders, y/y June 19.3% 16.4%