The perennially anti-risk Japanese Yen and US Dollar traded higher while the risk-geared Australian and New Zealand Dollars followed stocks lower in Asia Pacific trade. The Aussie underperformed, brought lower by disappointing Chinese inflation data.

That released seemed to amplify global slowdown fears activated by a dismal miss on US retail sales data in the preceding session. Chatter warning of slow progress in US-China trade talks added to the downbeat mood. Regional shares dutifully followed Wall Street lower.

STOCK FUTURES SIGNAL RISK-OFF BIAS, US CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DATA DUE

Bellwether European and US stock index futures are pointing sharply lower, suggesting that sentiment is likely to continue to deteriorate in the hours ahead. That suggests APAC-session G10 FX trading patterns have scope for continued follow-through.

A lackluster offering on the European data docket may put February’s edition of the University of Michigan gauge of US consumer confidence in the spotlight. Sentiment is expected to improve after hitting the most pessimistic setting since October 2016 in the preceding month.

An upbeat result may help paint yesterday’s retail data disappointment as dated, especially in the context of January’s impressively strong labor-market data. That might revive investors’ spirits somewhat, but the release might come too late into the trading day to meaningfully alter overall performance.

ASIA PACIFIC TRADING SESSION

EUROPEAN TRADING SESSION

** All times listed in GMT. See the full economic calendar here.