Headlines:
- EU reportedly still struggling on decision about Russian gas payments
- ECB's Lane: Euro depreciation will be important factor in shaping ECB projections
- SNB's Jordan: Higher inflation has not justified interest rate hike
- China's Politburo: Economy faces rising uncertainties and complexity
- Eurozone April preliminary CPI +7.5% vs +7.5% y/y expected
- France April preliminary CPI +4.8% vs +4.5% y/y expected
- Eurozone Q1 preliminary GDP +0.2% vs +0.3% q/q expected
- Germany Q1 preliminary GDP +0.2% vs +0.1% q/q expected
- France Q1 preliminary GDP 0.0% vs +0.3% q/q expected
- Italy Q1 preliminary GDP -0.2% vs -0.2% q/q expected
- Spain Q1 preliminary GDP +0.3% vs +0.5% q/q expected
- UK April Nationwide house prices +0.3% vs +0.8% m/m expected
Markets:
- AUD leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures -1.0%
- US 10-year yields down 1.1 bps to 2.852%
- Gold up 1.3% to $1,917.60
- WTI up 1.0% to $106.45
- Bitcoin down 2.8% to $38,763
It is the final trading month of April and we are seeing the dollar take some off the top today following a storming month.
The greenback was already weaker in Asia trading but the drop intensified after China's top authority came out with supportive remarks on the economy. The timing of this matters more as it came during noon time, which is atypical as they normally deliver remarks after market closing instead.
That helped to see the yuan rebound with USD/CNY falling back below 6.60 and the dollar also losing further ground across the board.
EUR/USD ran up from 1.0540 to 1.0590 before giving that back but is still 0.5% higher on the day. Euro area GDP figures showed a rather sluggish Q1 while April inflation numbers aren't giving much comfort for the ECB.
USD/JPY is looking to keep the break above 130.00 although there was a brief drop to 129.78 before the pair stuck around 130.30-40 and then now back down to near 130.00.
Meanwhile, GBP/USD is staving off a firmer drop below 1.2500 in a push to 1.2585 before holding around 1.2550-60 levels now.
The aussie is the lead gainer with the currency up 1% against the dollar, building on earlier gains from 0.7140 to 0.7180 on the session.
European indices kept higher but the overall risk mood is rather mixed with month-end in focus. Tech is looking to be a drag once again with S&P 500 futures down 1.0% and Nasdaq futures down 1.5%.
