Headlines:
- The countdown continues as markets await the main event tomorrow
- Kiwi stays pressured in European morning trade
- Has the Sahm Rule been triggered?
- Japanese banks reportedly urged BOJ to halve monthly bond purchases by 2026
- BOJ will likely project inflation will stay around its 2% target in coming years
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 5 July -0.2% vs -2.6% prior
Markets:
- GBP leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 3 bps to 4.27%
- Gold up 0.6% to $2,378.12
- WTI crude down 0.2% to $81.22
- Bitcoin up 1.0% to $58,510
It was a relatively quiet session and unsurprisingly so. Markets are now caught in a lull, awaiting the US inflation report tomorrow. As such, traders lacked any real conviction during the session.
The main mover on the day remains the New Zealand dollar, which fell in Asia Pacific trading after a more dovish stance adopted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. NZD/USD remains down 0.8% to 0.6070 levels, where it was holding mostly since the drop.
Besides that, major currencies didn't offer too much else with narrow ranges prevailing for the most part. EUR/USD is up marginally by 0.1% but is stuck within a 15 pips range. So, that speaks much to the overall mood today.
In the equities space, European stocks are bouncing back a little after the selloff yesterday. The better mood in Wall Street is helping but overall, French political jitters are still a cause for concern.
Now, the wait continues ahead of the main event tomorrow then.