Headlines:
- Yields lower as the wait continues ahead of the US CPI data
- ECB's Villeroy reaffirms commitment to get inflation back to 2% by the end of 2025
- BOJ reportedly considers lowering price outlook for fiscal year 2024 to middle 2% range
- BOJ branch managers hint at divergence on higher wages between smaller and bigger firms
- BOJ maintains assessment for 6 of Japan's 9 regions in latest Sakura report
- China confirms premier Li Qiang to attend WEF in Davos this month
Markets:
- NZD leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities a little higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 3.6 bps to 3.994%
- Gold up 0.5% to $2,033.21
- WTI crude up 2.0% to $72.81
- Bitcoin up 2.6% to $47,198
It was a rather sluggish session overall as markets are waiting on the main event this week, that being the US CPI data later today.
Bond yields were lower throughout and that kept the dollar in a more sluggish spot after some light pushing and pulling. EUR/USD nudged lower to 1.0960 but came back up to 1.0980 now while USD/JPY kept a little lower throughout the session around 145.30-50 levels.
There was very little to work with among major currencies as there weren't any notable data in Europe and a lack of any significant headlines.
In other markets, stocks were steady but not really running away with gains while gold and oil are both sitting higher as well. After the ETF approval yesterday, there were no fireworks in Bitcoin but it is still consolidating gains currently just above the $47,000 level.
Looking at things, it's all to play for once we get to the US CPI data later. As a reminder, this is a market that is desperate to keep the disinflation narrative running. So, it will take some surprises on both the headline and core readings - the latter especially - to really put down hope for that in the aftermath.
