Headlines:
- Fed's Powell says expects moderate pace of interest rate decisions to continue
- Fed's Powell: Process of getting to 2% inflation target has a long way to go
- Fed's Bostic: I don't see as much urgency to move as stated by others
- Fed's Bostic: Nobody should take a signal from my view that we should pause
- Japan finance minister says closely watching FX moves
- China state banks reportedly seen selling dollars to prop up the yuan
- ECB's de Cos: September meeting decision is "absolutely open"
- Spain June preliminary CPI +1.9% vs +1.7% y/y expected
- North Rhine Westphalia June CPI +6.2% vs +5.7% y/y prior
- Bavaria June CPI +6.2% vs +6.1% y/y prior
- Saxony June CPI +6.8% vs +6.5% y/y prior
- Eurozone June final consumer confidence -16.1 vs -16.1 prelim
- UK May mortgage approvals 50.52k vs 49.70k expected
Markets:
- AUD leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 3.3 bps to 3.744%
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,910.13
- WTI crude up 0.5% to $69.89
- Bitcoin up 1.8% to $30,653
There was plenty of central bank talk during the session but none of which are anything new in my view, to shift the dial ahead of the upcoming meetings in July.
Market players had little to work with early on and there wasn't much appetite but things are gradually picking up now ahead of US trading. Equities were flat and tepid earlier but have pushed a little higher, with the slight optimism flowing to FX as well.
The dollar was little changed mostly in the handover from Asia, but is now seen slightly lower on the day. EUR/USD is up 0.2% to 1.0930 from around 1.0900 at the start of the session. Meanwhile, USD/JPY did move to a high of 144.70 before a quick check back to 144.20 now as intervention risks are building.
The antipodeans are the notable gainers, helped out by China's intervention in the yuan again early on. The aussie is also bolstered by stronger Australia retail sales data and AUD/USD is up 0.5% to 0.6635 currently. The better risk mood in markets at the moment is also helping with that at least.
It will be interesting to see if the optimism can keep up ahead of month-end and quarter-end tomorrow. Perhaps we're due for some window dressing after the selling in the past week and a half?
