Headlines:
- Swiss franc continues to flex its muscles after SNB policy pivot
- US futures point to a light respite amid a very tough week for equities
- 10-year Italian and German bond yields spread fall back below 200 bps
- ECB's Knot says several 50 bps rate hikes are possible if inflation worsens
- BOE's Pill: It is up to markets to decide if we are considering a 50 bps rate hike
- BOE's Pill: If we act too aggressively, we could cause an undesirable slowdown
- BOJ's Kuroda says will not hesitate to ease monetary policy further if necessary
- BOJ's Kuroda: There is no limit to yield curve control
Markets:
- CHF leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.8%
- US 10-year yields down 8.5 bps to 3.220%
- Gold down 0.5% to $1,847.33
- WTI crude down 0.4% to $117.14
- Bitcoin up 1.5% to $20,984
The day started with the BOJ announcing that it will be the last man standing in keeping easy monetary policy and that saw the yen fall as markets also breathed a sigh of relief amid the central bank bonanza this week.
Equities are able to seek some respite after the heavy selloff yesterday while bond yields are keeping on the retreat, with European spreads also tightening as traders heeded the ECB's pledge on anti-fragmentation.
USD/JPY pushed higher from the end of Asia trading around 133.80 to 134.90 as the yen is offered amid the ongoing policy divergence. That also provided some relief for the dollar after the blip yesterday with EUR/USD coming back down to 1.0500 and GBP/USD slipping by 0.6% to 1.2280 at the moment.
The aussie and kiwi also came back down, with the former dropping back below 0.7000 against the dollar despite better risk sentiment. That's indicative of the fact that it is all about flows (the angst kind) at the moment in the market.
But it was the Swiss franc that shone brightly once again with EUR/CHF falling towards 1.0100 and CHF/JPY rising towards 140.00 - its highest since 1980 - as the currency continues to flex its muscles after the SNB policy pivot yesterday.