Headlines:
- Equities extend gains on the session
- Fed's Bostic: If things continue the way they are, March would be reasonable to start hiking rates
- Bundesbank's Nagel: Inflation surge not entirely due to temporary factors
- ECB's Lagarde: We take concern on rising prices very seriously
- ECB sees inflation falling this year and back below 2% target in 2023, 2024
- US December NFIB small business optimism index 98.9 vs 98.4 prior
Markets:
- CAD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 1.76%
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,805.20
- WTI up 1.6% to $79.47
- Bitcoin up 0.3% to $41,858
It was mostly quiet in Europe as major currencies meandered for the most part on the session.
The dollar and yen were the initial laggards as the risk mood kept slightly more optimistic after the equities rebound yesterday. But as the session progressed, the greenback pared some of the losses to keep little changed mostly now.
EUR/USD nudged up to as high as 1.1350 before slipping to 1.1330 levels again. Yes, the range still leaves a lot to be desired.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY is seeing a slight nudge higher from 115.25 to 115.45 as the yen lags across the board. This comes as stocks pull higher, with European indices up roughly a little over 1% and US futures also moving up on the day.
The loonie is the lead gainer among major currencies, with USD/CAD down 0.3% to 1.2640 though largely keeping gains from Asia. That is helped by a jump in oil prices with WTI up 1.6% to $79.47.
Elsewhere, Treasury yields are looking a little heavy once again after the retreat yesterday. 10-year yields are down 2 bps to 1.76% and that is also helping to see tech stocks breathe a little easier at the moment.
