Headlines:
- Dollar eases lower in European morning trade
- USD/JPY down on the day but keep a close eye on the bond market
- Yuan fallout still being somewhat contained by Beijing for now
- BOJ's Ueda says did not discuss FX volatility in meeting with Kishida
- Eurozone June current account balance €35.8 billion vs €9.1 billion prior
- UK August CBI trends total orders -15 vs -9 prior
- Switzerland July trade balance CHF 3.13 billion vs CHF 4.82 billion prior
Markets:
- NZD leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.5%
- US 10-year yields down 2.6 bps to 4.316%
- Gold up 0.4% to $1,900.91
- WTI crude down 0.4% to $80.40
- Bitcoin down 0.3% to $26,034
It was a fairly mixed session as markets remain slightly on the quiet side in Europe once again today.
The dollar nudged slightly lower as equities sentiment picked up once again, with tech shares leading the way after yesterday's solid start to the week. US futures were flattish early on but are now seen higher with S&P 500 futures up 0.5% and Nasdaq futures up 0.7%. European indices has some catching up to do to yesterday, and so are posting gains of roughly 1% across the board.
EUR/USD raced up to a high of 1.0930 but sellers are holding on the 100-day moving average at that key level, before falling back to 1.0885 now. USD/JPY is keeping lower at around 145.70 levels from around 146.00 earlier as slightly lower bond yields are also weighing.
The lower yields in long-term Treasuries today is making for a bit more of a mixed mood early on but just be mindful that the bond market tends to take on a life of its own in US trading.
Despite the yuan's softness (even with efforts by China to defend the currency), the aussie and kiwi are able to brush that aside temporarily. AUD/USD is up 0.5% to 0.6445 and NZD/USD up 0.6% to 0.5960 on the day.
