[MARKET ANALYSIS] FX markets are rangebound amid the absence of Japanese participants and cautiousness ahead of key meetings stateside

DXY: Flat

• Trades little changed amid a lack of fresh major macro drivers over the weekend and despite recent comments from Fed officials, including Kashkari (2026 voter), who noted that inflation remains too high and that price pressures have expanded beyond the oil-price shock from the Iran war and are affecting the broader economy. Furthermore, markets seem cautious ahead of this week's key meetings stateside, such as the UN General Assembly and the Trump-Xi summit.

EUR/USD: Flat

• Trades range-bound ahead of a couple of ECB speakers and with the single currency unaffected by the 'disaster' for German Chancellor Merz's CDU in the regional election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where it crashed out of the state parliament with preliminary results showing it failed to achieve the 5% threshold.

GBP/USD: -0.1%

• Lacks firm direction with price action not helped by mixed UK Rightmove House Prices data, which showed the first monthly increase in prices for the first time since May, while it was also reported that Labour MPs warned against a move to lower the planned “mansion tax” threshold to GBP 1.5mln, with one claiming it would amount to “electoral suicide”.

USD/JPY: Flat

• Struggles for direction amid the absence of Japanese participants who are essentially on a five-day weekend due to holiday closures, while there were some fluctuations late last week in the aftermath of the BoJ's rate hike, lack of hawkish urgency, and a report that it conducted a "rate check" with market participants late on Friday, signalling potential preparation for currency intervention.

Antipodeans: AUD/USD +0.1% / NZD/USD -0.1%

• Trades range-bound in the absence of any tier-1 data and amid the somewhat mixed sentiment in the region.