Headlines:
- US futures pull back higher ahead of North American trading
- Dollar stays more sluggish, set for back-to-back weekly losses
- Yen catches slight bid on Kuroda remarks
- BOJ's Kuroda: Easy policy must be maintained for the time being
- BOJ's Kuroda: Don't expect inflation to stay around 2% next year, and the year after
- Japan PM Kishida: Sharp yen moves are undesirable
- Germany says pushing for Russia oil embargo, or may seek alternatives, in coming days
- Bank of Russia lowers key rate to 11% from 14%
Markets:
- EUR leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.6%
- US 10-year yields up 0.7 bps to 2.754%
- Gold down 0.3% to $1,846.32
- WTI crude up 0.8% to $111.24
- Bitcoin down 2.6% to $28,975
The session started off with more of a cautious tone but we quickly moved on to the "markets in search of a breather" mode as equities nudged higher while the dollar softened slightly against the euro, pound, and yen notably.
The yen got a bit of a push higher early on after BOJ governor Kuroda touched on exit strategy from easy policy but as mentioned then, it isn't really anything new. USD/JPY still dropped from 127.20 to 126.65 and was pinned lower amid help from a fall in Treasury yields. 10-year yields fell to a six-week low, testing 2.70% before bouncing.
There was a bit of a push and pull in equities as European markets opened but as we get settled in, stocks pulled higher alongside US futures. That is indicative of more of a breathing room, after Wall Street having seen seven straight weekly losses on the trot.
As the dollar dropped a little, EUR/USD is seen making its way up from 1.0680 to 1.0720 before keeping near 1.0700 now. There are a host of large option expiries for the pair tomorrow to keep things interesting.
Meanwhile, GBP/USD is seen moving up from 1.2570 to 1.2620 before slipping back under 1.2600 currently. Elsewhere, the dollar remains little changed.
