Headlines:
- Dollar starting to benefit from that discarded tailwind?
- EUR/USD staggers towards key technical test as dollar holds firmer
- USD/JPY inches closer towards key resistance point
- BOE's Bailey: Things are looking a bit brighter than they did a couple of months ago
- UK's Hunt: The overwhelming priority has to be lowering inflation
- Eurozone April final CPI +7.0% vs +7.0% y/y prelim
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 12 May -5.7% vs +6.3% prior
Markets:
- NZD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- US 10-yeaar yields down 3 bps to 3.518%
- Gold down 0.1% to $1,986.53
- WTI crude up 0.5% to $71.23
- Bitcoin down 1.1% to $26,675
It was a quiet session in terms of headlines but there were some decent and light moves during the session at least.
The handover from Asia saw major currencies stuck in very narrow ranges but that extended in European morning trade, as the dollar gathered a bit of poise - particularly against the euro, pound and yen.
EUR/USD fell from 1.0860 to 1.0820 while GBP/USD declined from 1.2480 to 1.2425 before a light bounce after as dollar gains ease up. It can be seen as price action stretching its muscles, awaiting further conviction by traders. However, mixed markets are not really helping.
USD/JPY also moved up to a high of 137.17 but is keeping just below the 137.00 mark now alongside its 200-day moving average.
That comes despite bond yields looking a tad softer but equities are keeping marginally positive as US futures are higher while European indices are little changed mostly.
The mood in stocks is at least helping to see the antipodeans hold up with AUD/USD up 0.1% to 0.6660 after hitting a low of 0.6630 earlier while NZD/USD is up 0.5% to 0.6260 as price moves back just above its own 100-hour moving average.
It's one of those days where traders are still largely sorting out their feet, awaiting some form of headline to really firm up any convictions out there.
