Forex Today: JPY remains extremely volatile, dollar stays calm ahead of PMI data

Here is what you need to know on Monday, October 24:

As investors prepare for the highly-anticipated central bank decisions later this week, major currencies stay relatively quiet at the start of the new week except for the Japanese yen. The US Dollar Index moves sideways at around 112.00 and US stock index futures trade flat on the day. S&P Global will release the preliminary October Manufacturing and Services PMI data for Germany, the euro area, the UK and the US. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index will also be looked upon for fresh impetus later in the day.

During the Asian trading hours, the data from China revealed that the Gross Domestic Product grew at an annualized rate of 3.9% in the third quarter. This reading came in better than the market expectation for an expansion of 3.4%. Retail Sales in China, however, rose by 2.5% on a yearly basis, falling short of analysts' estimate of 3.3%. The Shanghai Composite fell sharply following mixed data and was last seen losing more than 2% on a daily basis.

The USD/JPY pair climbed toward 150.00 in the first hours of trading early Monday but lost over 400 pips in a matter of 10 minutes. Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda refrained from clarifying whether they intervened in the market but reiterated that they will continue to take appropriate action against excessive, disorderly market moves. Following the sharp decline witnessed in the Asian session, the pair recovered to the 149.00 area, where it's up around 1% on the day.

EUR/USD trades in a relatively tight range near mid-0.9800s following Friday's rebound. Business activity in the euro area's and Germany's manufacturing sectors are expected to continue to contract in early October. 

GBP/USD trades in positive territory and continues to edge higher toward 1.1400 in the early European morning on Monday. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he ended his big to replace Liz Truss. Meanwhile, former chancellor Rishi Sunak has reportedly 165 supporters ahead of Monday's nomination deadline and remains the clear favourite to become the next PM.

Following Friday's impressive upsurge, gold climbed to a fresh 10-day high near $1,670 early Monday but struggled to preserve its bullish momentum. At the time of press, XAU/USD was little changed on the day at $1,657. Meanwhile, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is down nearly 2% on the day, helping gold hold its ground for the time being.

Bitcoin climbed toward $20,000 on Sunday but lost its traction before reaching that level. As of writing, BTC/USD was down 1% on the day at $19,350. Ethereum ended up gaining more than 4% last week and seems to have gone into a consolidation phase above $1,300 early Monday.