Asian forex market wrap: USD still down after Bernanke speech

The USD fell again overnight this time after Ben Bernanke's speech Fed's Kohn sees no asset bubbles in US AUD slips slightly on RBA minutes which suggest that there is a question mark hanging over the timing of future rate rises Japan's September tertiary activity -0.5% Fujii says that recklessly issuing bonds would cause problems Regional stockmarkets give up early gains to finish around 0.5% lower Gold slips back $1.50 from another overnight record high; more IMF sales, this time on a much smaller scale to Mauritius. Andrew Sentance remarks will likely support the pound into early Europe Overall another very quiet day in Asia with most of the majors in 50 pip ranges. Asia opened towards the upper end of the EUR/USD and AUD/USD ranges but has slipped lower as regional stockmarkets started to struggle. USD/JPY has been underpinned by Toshin-related buying throughout the morning and there may be some residual buying left to be done at the London fix. The range has been a paltry 88.90/89.17 which shows that buyers are having little trouble getting filled, regardless of the level. Some GBP/JPY buying was noted towards the 149.50 low from Singapore-based accounts and more bids are noted at 149.00-10. Cable has traded in a 1.6796/1.6846 range and dips remain well supported as the pound continues to show stability and a little strength on the crosses. The Andrew Sentance remarks helped the pound make some small gains especially against the EUR. The AUD fell back after the release of the RBA minutes but the range has nonetheless been a fairly subdued .9332/77. Option barriers are touted at .9450 (smallish) and .9500 (larger). The EUR/USD range has been 1.4947/97 and there have been no announcements or market revelations of note. Markets: Nikkei -0.4%, HK -0.5%, Kospi flat. Gold -$1.5 at $1138/oz. Oil $78.60.