Fund Performance per day (inception date: 03 Oct 06) : 0.5418%

USD - Market expectations broadly believe the Fed will maintain its current overnight target rate at 5.25 percent at that gathering, a level that's also widely predicted to hold through the remainder of the year. The US currency declined following the publication of the latest Empire State survey of manufacturing activity in the New York region, which sent mixed signals on the US economy. One analyst commented that while the general business conditions index was solid, the other activity indicators showed signs that they may be losing forward momentum. Most economists expect the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates on hold at a meeting later this month, but any easing of inflationary concerns could spark speculation about a rate cut and so hurt dollar sentiment.

JPY - The yen, meanwhile, gained against the dollar after the Russian central bank announced plans to diversify its reserves by adding the Japanese currency to its portfolio.
First Deputy chairman Alexei Ulyukayev told a conference that Russia planned to broaden the number of currencies in its reserve portfolio and that it had recently included the yen. Department store sales in September rose 1.0 pct year-on-year to 563.6 bln yen, the first increase in six months, the Japan Department Stores Association said.

GBP - Lower petrol prices helped inflation in the UK ease back a touch in September but it stayed above the Bank of England's target rate for the fifth month running. The latest figure is the highest since November 2005 but equals the reading in February this year. The figures suggest that the Bank of England will raise interest rates again next month.

EUR - The euro dipped after data showed an unexpected drop in euro zone September inflation to 1.7 pct from the provisional estimate of 1.8 pct, while the German ZEW index of economic

Later

2030h - USD : Producer Price Index

2115h - USD : Capacity Utilization / Industrial Production

Investors will be looking to the USD figures for signs of a weaker dollar

2330h - EUR : Italian Current Account

1300h - JPY : BoJ Minutes for Sep Monetary Policy Meeting

1600h - EUR : Italian Trade Balance

1630h - GBP : BoE's Minutes of October Meeting / Jobless Change Claims

1700 h - EUR : Eurozone Trade Balance

God Speed in the markets