Headlines:
Markets:
- JPY leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities little changed; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 5 bps to 3.551%
- Gold flat at $1,928.30
- WTI crude up 1.5% to $82.19
- Bitcoin down 0.6% to $22,927
It was another quiet session in Europe, with not much in terms of data and headlines to really impact markets. The 1-week implied volatility among major currencies show that all eyes are on next week’s central bank bonanza, so that best explains the lack of appetite in trading over the past few days.
The dollar is steady but mostly little changed with USD/JPY keeping just under 130.00, hovering around 129.70-90 for the most part during the session. EUR/USD is also keeping just a touch lower, down 0.2% to 1.0870 but holding within a 35 pips range for the day.
The pound is the laggard but not by much, with GBP/USD down 0.4% to 1.2360 as the rejection of the December highs of 1.2443-46 continues to play out on the week.
Meanwhile, commodity currencies are little changed with AUD/USD holding below its August highs of 0.7125-36 and NZD/USD finding it tough still to get above 0.6500.
Elsewhere, equities are tentative with European indices being little changed while US futures are lower. We’ll see if there will be another strong dip buying momentum in US trading later, with US PCE data also one to watch before the weekend.