Market Starts Slow, But Be Aware of Risks in the New York Session

<p>&nbsp;The actions of China's central bank (PBOC) which lowered its main lending rate (LPR) are seen to have failed to stimulate market movements.</p><p><br /></p><p>Missing expectations, the PBOC only cut its one-year LPR by 10 basis points to 3.45% and kept its five-year LPR unchanged at 4.20%.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most household and corporate loans in China are based on the PBOC's one-year prime lending rate while mortgages are fixed at the five-year rate.</p><p><br /></p><p>Following the less dovish move, the Aussie and New Zealand dollars continued to sink to nine-month lows against the US dollar in the European session.</p><p><br /></p><p>The yuan fell to a record low of 7,300 against the USD despite a firmer setting of its trading range by the central bank.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>This gives room for the US dollar to maintain its strengthening around the highest level even though the price movement is clearly seen as horizontal.</p><p><br /></p><p>The dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against six major currencies, traded little changed at around 103.36.</p><p><br /></p><p>The euro continued to move sideways, while the pound slipped slightly from last week's gains by trading at around 1.2715 against the greenback.</p><p><br /></p><p>With no major economic data published today, the currency is expected to continue to move around the same price zone but investors are also taking a cautious approach.</p>