Headlines:
- BOE reportedly to further delay QT to ensure gilts market stability
- BOE says earlier report on possible delay to QT is 'inaccurate'
- Sterling retreats as UK outlook still short of confidence
- The relief rally looks to build further on the week
- Germany October ZEW survey current conditions -72.2 vs -68.0 expected
Markets:
- NZD leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 1.8%
- US 10-year yields down 1.2 bps to 4.002%
- Gold up 0.1% to $1,652.43
- WTI crude up 0.1% to $85.53
- Bitcoin up 0.2% to $19,566
It was a quiet session for the most part as the positive mood in broader markets to start the week continued to play out. Equities are seen pulling higher again while bonds are caught in a bit of a push and pull, with UK gilts unable to find much comfort amid some confusing headlines involving the BOE again.
The first was reported by the FT, saying that the central bank is likely to delay QT. That makes sense given what has transpired in the gilts market and the shot to liquidity but then, we saw the central bank come out to deny that and that caused a spike in yields briefly while the pound dropped.
As the UK outlook remains short of confidence, the quid is the laggard today with cable falling from 1.1330 to 1.1255 during the session before keeping closer to 1.1300 at the moment.
USD/JPY was also an intersting one as the pair slowly nudged higher from 148.80 to 149.28 before getting shot down quickly to a low of 148.13 (might vary depending on your broker). There are questions surrounding whether or not it was intervention by Japanese officials but I'm on the fence with this one and can't really say that it is. In any case, the pair was quickly bought up to hold above 149.00 again now.
Elsewhere, the dollar kept its cool mostly and is only seen trailing against the aussie and kiwi. The latter got off to a hot start today after higher-than-expected inflation data and the gains persisted throughout. AUD/USD is up 0.4% to 0.6315 but chopped around between 0.6290 and 0.6320 for the most part. NZD/USD is up 1.0% to 0.5690 as we see calls ramp up for a 75 bps rate hike by the RBNZ next month.
In the equities space, the relief rally looks to extend with US futures up nearly 2% and European indices are also seeking optimism with over 1% gains on the day. Despite the rousing advance, I would be remiss not to say that there is still a sense of apprehension in the air.
