ASIA WRAP: Consolidation

*AUD quiet as RBA minutes deliver much of the same
*Nikkei Futures rally on reaffirmed BoJ wait-and-see stance
*China inflation beats driven by food. Does it prompt more US purchases?

FX:

• FX markets consolidated and kept in tight ranges as broader developments - US/China, Brexit - went unchanged through Asia. The US Dollar finished slightly softer -0.05%. 
• AUDUSD +0.01% with RBA minutes maintaining a lower-for-longer stance on interest rates.
• NZDUSD +0.03% followed closely behind. 
• USDJPY -0.05% meandered around 108.3 as Kuroda's speech reaffirmed a wait-and-see stance on the momentum towards BoJ's price target. 
• USDCAD -0.02% paying little attention to Crude's softness.
• USDCNH +0.06% didn't reach much to an inflation beat that saw food prices rise 11% y/y.
• In EM space, USDTRY -0.73% retraced from intra-month highs 5.92 as Turkey sees fresh sanctions from US over its military action in Syria.

Equities:

• Equities opened lower but managed to pull ahead through the day. 
• ASX Dec Futures +0.16% gained. 
• ASX Cash ended the day +0.14% with gains to Qantas +2.9% (QAN.AX) and Sydney Airport +2.2% (SYD.AX) as Brent Crude Futures softened. Southern Cross Media (SXL.AX) was the worst performer, down -18.6%, on weak H1 guidance. 
• Nikkei Futures rallied +1.9% off the back of BoJ Gov Kuroda's speech.
• S&P 500 Futures are also up +0.36% at time of writing.  

Fixed Income:

• Yields have ticked slightly lower over the session after a solid run-up late last week. 
• US 10y yields -2bps. 
• AUS 10y yields -2bps.

Commodities:

• Brent Crude Futures -0.5% continued its pullback from the 60 handle. 
• Gold spot -0.04% was little changed.