The US dollar, which was sold last week after the FOMC and soft employment report, remains on the defensive today. The Antipodean currencies and yen are struggling, but the other G10 currencies are firm. The dollar is also lower against most emerging market currencies. Still, given the magnitude of the dollar's pullback, we suspect some consolidation is likely. Asia Pacific equities rallied, helped by the sharp gains in the US before the weekend. Note that South Korea is banned short sales and the Kospi rallied nearly 5.7% today. The Philippine's allowed short selling for the first time, and its main index rallied ... (full story)