Headlines:
- Dollar turns to gains after early stumble
- Gas deliveries reportedly to have resumed via Nord Stream 1 pipeline
- Italian prime minister Draghi: I will resign
- Italian bonds slump hard amid political upheaval
- It is shaping up to be another stinging day for oil
- BOJ's Kuroda: Will not hesitate to ease monetary policy further if necessary
- BOJ's Kuroda: A large rate hike would be needed to stop yen weakness
Markets:
- EUR leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.2%
- US 10-year yields up 2 bps to 3.056%
- Gold down 0.8% to $1,683.33
- WTI crude down 4.6% to $95.23
- Bitcoin down 2.6% to $22,646
It is a big morning in Europe with two out of three key risk events having played out. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline saw gas flows restart and return back to capacity prior to the maintenance period i.e. 40% or 67 million cubic metres. That provided some early relief for the euro before Italian prime minister Draghi announced his resignation, as expected.
EUR/USD climbed up from 1.0200 to 1.0230 early on before being pulled back to 1.0170-80 levels at the moment. The dollar was also initially softer before finding a footing as risk sentiment also erred slightly more negatively during the session.
USD/JPY pushed up from 138.30 to 138.70-80 levels as the BOJ stood pat and Kuroda reaffirmed that the central bank isn't going to be shifting its policy stance any time soon.
GBP/USD hit a high of 1.2003 in the handover from Asia to Europe but settled lower as the dollar came back, falling to 1.1920 and is holding just above that now.
As equities eased lower, the aussie and kiwi also saw early advances turn the other direction with AUD/USD falling from 0.6910 to 0.6870 and NZD/USD from 0.6240 to 0.6190 - keeping at the lows for the day currently.
It is on to the ECB next as the final key risk event for the euro today.
