Headlines:
- USD/JPY surge meets a pause so far on the week
- No reprieve for the euro as 2020 low eyed
- Cable plummets further, falls below 1.2700 to fresh lows since September 2020
- US futures dribble lower to start the session
- Oil and gold face near similar technical configurations
- Japan PM Kishida: Rapid FX moves are undesirable
- BOJ to purchase unlimited amounts of 10-year JGBs at 0.25% on 27-28 April
- ECB's Kazaks says prefers first rate hike to come in July
Markets:
- JPY leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.4%
- US 10-year yields down 4.9 bps to 2.775%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,903.62
- WTI up 0.6% to $99.12
- Bitcoin up 0.7% to $40,475
It is a bit of a mixed session as we see bond yields retreat after a bit of a rise earlier in the day. The drop in yields comes alongside a fall in US futures as well, in which we saw S&P 500 futures erase gains of 0.3% to be down by 0.4% now. Safety flows perhaps or maybe some month-end moves for the bond market after the relentless selling in April?
European stocks are mostly higher but that owes to a catch up play to the sharp bounce in US equities yesterday, so it isn't really a strong indicator of risk sentiment at the moment.
In FX, things are looking more mixed with the yen firming across the board while the dollar is trading in the middle of the pack. The euro and the pound are the weakest currencies with EUR/USD dribbling below 1.0700 from around 1.0720 at the start of the session. The pair is trading at the lows now close to 1.0670, eyeing the 2020 low of 1.0635.
GBP/USD is also seeing another down day, falling 0.4% to 1.2685 as sellers continue to keep the pressure towards the September 2020 low of 1.2675.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY is seen easing lower from 128.00 to 127.50-60 levels as buyers and sellers continue to duke it out in between the key hourly moving averages here.
The aussie and the kiwi are among the better performers with AUD/USD up 0.3% to 0.7200 and NZD/USD up 0.2% to 0.6630 but the gains aren't amounting to much as compared to the drop in recent days.
