Headlines:
- Dollar firms to start the new week
- ECB's Nagel: It is too early to talk about rate cuts
- ECB's Holzmann says should not count on rate cuts at all this year
- Eurozone November trade balance €20.3 billion vs €11.1 billion prior
- Eurozone November industrial production -0.3% vs -0.3% m/m expected
- Germany 2023 full-year GDP -0.3% vs -0.3% expected
- Germany December wholesale price index -0.6% vs -0.2% m/m prior
- German economy ministry says key economic headwinds likely to diminish this year
- China economic growth to slow to 4.6% in 2024 - Reuters poll
Markets:
- EUR leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
- Gold up 0.1% to $2,051.43
- WTI crude down 1.2% to $71.79
- Bitcoin up 2.2% to $42,615
It was a quiet session for the most part and not surprisingly so, with US markets observing a long weekend.
The dollar remains steadier across the board, holding modest gains against the likes of the yen and antipodean currencies. USD/JPY pushed up from 145.20 to 145.90 on the session with bond yields holding a little higher in Europe.
The aussie and kiwi are weaker as the Chinese yuan also softened, with risk appetite also sapped to start the week. NZD/USD in particular is looking for a steeper drop as it falls below 0.6200 on the day.
Besides that, European currencies are mostly little changed with the pound slightly lower while the euro is keeping on par with the dollar. There were some hawkish ECB comments but as we know, traders are not quite buying it unless the data says otherwise.
In the commodities space, oil is down amid a lack of escalation in Middle East tensions while gold is keeping lightly changed overall, though maintaining its break higher from Friday at around $2,051 currently.
