Headlines:
- Aussie leads, dollar tepid so far on the session
- ECB accounts lay out divide on inflation outlook
- Eurozone December final CPI +5.0% vs +5.0% y/y prelim
- Germany December PPI +5.0% vs +0.8% m/m prior
Markets:
- AUD leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 0.7 bps to 1.834%
- Gold flat at $1,840.10
- WTI down 0.9% to $86.20
- Bitcoin up 0.7% to $42,029
It was a largely quiet session with little headlines to work with and few key economic releases as well.
The dollar is keeping a fair bit more mixed but was rather sluggish earlier on as risk trades benefited from a better performance in Asia, after the PBOC cut rates earlier in the day. But as the session progressed, the optimism has been dialed back a touch although stocks are lightly more positive still on the day.
Bond yields were little changed in general but are keeping at elevated levels with 10-year Treasury yields holding around 1.83%.
In FX, the aussie is the lead gainer after benefiting from a stronger jobs report at the start of the day. That helped AUD/USD to settle around 0.7230-40 levels throughout the session.
Meanwhile, the kiwi is the laggard as AUD/NZD broke free of its recent range since the end of December, pushing to 1.0700.
Elsewhere, there is little change among major currencies though the loonie is also keeping a slight advance with USD/CAD testing waters just below its 200-day moving average again, under 1.2500.
It's still mostly all about the risk mood and while stocks are recovering a little, there is still a sense of trepidation as we look to close out the final two days of the week.
