Headlines:
- Eurozone January preliminary CPI +5.1% vs +4.4% y/y expected
- EUR/USD nudges to one-week high as dollar stays sluggish
- Equities bounce set to face a key test later in the day
- OPEC+ JMMC meeting ends, recommends 400k bpd output increase for March
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 28 January +12.0% vs -7.1% prior
Markets:
- EUR leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.8%
- US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 1.777%
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,804.10
- WTI up 0.1% to $88.30
- Bitcoin down 0.2% to $38,735
Eurozone inflation surprised to the upside, hitting a new record as price pressures continue to keep elevated in the region to start the new year. That will put more pressure on the ECB going into tomorrow's meeting, though I doubt it will change their overall approach for now.
That aside, it was a session bereft of any major headlines as we see a continuation of the dollar slump this week.
The greenback is getting no reprieve across the board with EUR/USD nudging to a fresh one-week high above 1.1300. Meanwhile, USD/JPY slumped from 114.70 to 114.25 as bond yields also retreated on the day.
Equities continued to keep more upbeat and that is helping to bolster risk sentiment, pushing commodity currencies a little higher against the dollar.
USD/CAD is seen down 0.2% to 1.2663 while AUD/USD is up 0.3% to 0.7150 in European morning trade.
Elsewhere, oil remains steady around $88.30 as OPEC+ looks to maintain the status quo by confirming a 400k bpd increase in output going into March.
