The dollar maintained most of the gains made Wednesday, with only a slight retreat in the USD in Asian trading Thursday as the market consolidated. Traders are wary of taking large positions ahead of the impending ECB, BOE and BOC decisions and the upcoming U.S. jobs data on Friday. USD/JPY remains caught in a broad band, mostly around 94-97, with price action today contained by option maturities, and trading in a range of 95.96-96.37 after the Tokyo open. EUR/USD held a range of 1.4143-1.4192. AUD gains were capped by the disappointing trade data that showed the first deficit since July 2008 with rallies capped at 0.8047. Asian stocks were broadly lower in line with the fall in the U.S. market on Wednesday. U.S. Treasury yields were little changed after retreating in NY trading. Oil prices remained soft, but above $66, after the rise in the inventory data on Wednesday. Fitch reiterated support for the AAA rating for the U.S. and UK but this had little impact in today’s session.
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