The initial gains of the euro were compared with EUR/USD now at 1.1235 and the dollar was again little changed overall. The Japanese yen is still marginally higher, with USD/JPY down 0.3% to 138.28, driven by slightly lower government bond yields on the day.

This comes as stocks continue to maintain more tepid sentiment. US futures are little changed and European indices are also more or less flat at the moment. While later US retail sales data may not be as important as last week’s inflation numbers, it’s still another key indicator of the economy and one that traders seem to be waiting for.

Apart from the yen, the Kiwi lags behind with NZD/USD down 0.5% again just below 0.6300 as we see pressure higher to AUD/NZD 1.0820 on the day. It is trading close to its 200-day moving average of 1.0823, so this could be the reason for the flows we are seeing in the kiwi during the session.

Elsewhere, gold rose 0.4% to $1,962 but is holding within a range of the past few sessions. And WTI crude was little changed at $74.25 after yesterday’s Saudi rally faded fairly quickly, with price action trapped between the 100- and 200-day moving averages of $73.50 and $77.04.