Headlines:
- Dollar steadies a little, aussie and kiwi lead on the session
- Dollar bruised going into the final stretch of the week
- Equities look to book end the week with another day of gains
- ECB's Nagel: First rate move should come in July, more to follow in 2H 2022
- Japan PM Kishida: Specific monetary policy tools are up to BOJ to decide
- Evergrande reportedly mulling repaying offshore bondholders with cash instalments
Markets:
- NZD leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 3.3 bps to 2.725%
- Gold up 0.5% to $1,858.66
- WTI crude down 0.5% to $113.55
- Bitcoin down 1.6% to $28,940
It was a quiet session for the most part as markets kept rather calm heading into the final stretch of the week.
The dollar is trading more mixed, somewhat steadier after a slight decline early on. But as equities look to book end the week with another day of gains, commodity currencies are leading the charge in FX.
Both the aussie and kiwi are posting modest gains on the day, with AUD/USD and NZD/USD both racing higher by 0.6% to 0.7145 and 0.6520 respectively; both also testing its 38.2 Fib retracement level of the swing move lower since April as outlined here.
The greenback was weaker early on but regained some composure with large option expiries capping EUR/USD price action in a drop from 1.0750 to 1.0700 on the session. USD/JPY tracked around 126.85 to 127.05 throughout, showing little poise as well.
Meanwhile, stocks are posting slight gains as US equities look to put an end to seven straight weeks of losses ahead of the weekend.
All in all, this points to some breathing room after the moves in April and early May. And with the bond market perhaps hinting at a change in the narrative, we might be looking at a crossroads as to figuring what comes next for markets.
