Currency Update: Equities were flat, yields lower, oil lower and gold higher

Currency Update: Equities were flat, yields lower, oil lower and gold higher. USD underperformed, with JPY the outperformer, while CAD and AUD underperformed slightly. In the US, evidence of a slow-down continued to mount as consumer confidence and house price trends eased, however USD was only marginally weaker. AUD was the main underperformer on the day, giving back some of the prior days' gains. Overnight, in Europe, the final read for Q4 GDP growth was unchanged in Germany. In recent days, news from China has become a focus for markets once again. Volatility has spiked in Yuan, both onshore (CNY) and offshore (CNH), driven by a decision from PBOC (Chinese Central Bank) to set the fixing rate for the CNY at a weaker level in the past week. In the US, consumer confidence came off its highs and was below expectations, but it remains at relatively good levels.