Forex Today: Kiwi resilient to NZ political jitters, FOMC minutes - Key

Forex today in Asia was a quiet affair, with most majors stuck in tight trading ranges amid a typical pre-caution trading ahead of the FOMC minutes release. However, the Kiwi emerged an exception and was the top gainer, as traders continued to take profits off the table after the recent drop, in the wake of lingering worries surrounding New Zealand political environment. The Aussie remained better bid on the back of upbeat Westpac consumer sentiment data, while the Yen failed to benefit from solid Japanese core machinery orders data.

Meanwhile, the US dollar stalled its tepid recovery mode, after the Dallas Fed Chief Kaplan’s speech. However, gold prices ignored renewed USD weakness and dipped on the back of easing Catalan fears.

Main topics in Asia

Australia: Consumer sentiment lifts - Westpac

The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment for Australia rose 3.6% to 101.4 in October from 97.9 in September, notes Bill Evans, Chief Economist at Westpac.

Japan Machinery Orders (YoY) came in at 4.4%, above forecasts (0.8%) in August

Catalan leader signs document declaring independence from Spain - RTRS

Reuters out with the latest on the Catalan crisis, citing that Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and other regional politicians signed a document declaring Catalonia's independence from Spain.

Fed’s Kaplan: ‘We can afford to be patient on rate hikes’

‘We can afford to be patient on rate hikes because economic growth is not running away from US.’

6 military planes (including 2 US strategic bombers) fly over Korean Peninsula

The South Korean military reported that 6 military planes (including 2 US strategic bombers) flew over the Korean Peninsula, in a show of force, as cited by the domestic media.

Key Focus ahead

Looking ahead, the European calendar remains absolutely data-empty, and hence, all eyes remain focused on the upcoming FOMC minutes of the Sept meeting, which likely to offer fresh impetus to the hawks.

The Fed minutes are likely to show that the Fed remains on track for a December Fed rate hike and 3 more hikes next. Meanwhile, on inflation, the Fed minutes will reflect that the Committee believes the inflationary factors are transitory.

EUR/USD - Renewed call demand as Catalan fears ease, yield differential favors USD

The EUR/USD rose an eight-day high of 1.1828 in early Asia after premier Carles Puigdemont pulled back from the brink of a full-blown unilateral declaration of independence for Catalonia and opened doors for last minute negotiations.

GBP/USD: Will it sustain the 3-day rebound on Fed minutes?

The bulls failed once again near 1.3225 region in the Asian trades, sending GBP/USD pair back into the red zone near 1.32 handle, while markets eagerly await the release of the FOMC Sept meeting minutes for the next direction.

Fed minutes to show disinflation to be largely driven by transitory factors – Barclays

Barclays’ Research Team offer their thoughts on the upcoming FOMC minutes of the Sept Fed meeting, which will be reported at 1800 GMT later on Wednesday.

Why the Fed Minutes Could Boost the Dollar

The performance of the single currency will be dictated by the market's appetite for U.S. dollars and since we believe the FOMC minutes will be hawkish…