Headlines:
- BOJ's Nakagawa: No preset idea on order or timing on how to phase out easy policy
- BOJ's Nakagawa: Further YCC tweak cannot be ruled out but is not an imminent issue now
- UK businesses see lower inflation expectations for the year-ahead in August
- Chinese yuan on the brink as it falls to the lowest levels this year
- China's forex reserves fell by roughly $44 billion in August
- China has widened existing curbs on use of iPhones by state employees - report
- Eurozone Q2 final GDP +0.1% vs +0.3% q/q second estimate
- Germany July industrial production -0.8% vs -0.5% m/m expected
- France July trade balance -€8.09 billion vs -€6.71 billion prior
- UK August Halifax house prices -1.9% vs -0.3% m/m expected
- Switzerland August seasonally adjusted unemployment rate 2.1% vs 2.1% expected
Markets:
- NZD leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures down 0.4%
- US 10-year yields down 1.4 bps to 4.275%
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,920.83
- WTI crude down 0.5% to $87.06
- Bitcoin up 0.1% to $25,690
There weren't any major headlines during the session and market moves were relatively contained for the most part.
The dollar continues to hold steadier across the board, keeping a slight advance against the euro and pound. EUR/USD eased from 1.0720 to 1.0705, though still sitting in a 25 pips range on the day. Meanwhile, GBP/USD fell from 1.2500 to 1.2450 as the pound fallout continues - not helped by softer UK business inflation expectations.
USD/JPY is keeping lower though, down 0.2% at around 147.30 currently, as the bond selling this week takes a slight breather in European trading.
In the equities space, tech shares are the major laggards with Nasdaq futures trailing by 0.7% and that is pinning down S&P 500 futures by 0.4%. Dow futures are down 0.1% while European indices are a bit more mixed now after a slightly softer open. There's still some hints of nervousness as we await further developments in the bond market.
Coming up later, there is the US weekly jobless claims but if not, do keep an eye on Treasuries to see if the selling will return and impact broader markets once again.
