...But little changes in the major currency pairs
As North American traders enter for the day, the AUD is the strongest of the majors and the GBP are the weakest. China rolled back some tariffs on $75B of goods (by 50%). The USD is mixed. As far as the coronavirus the latest numbers from China are showing:
- Feb 1: 14,380 (number of dead across the country 304)
- Feb 2: 17,205 (number of deaths 361)
- Feb 3: 20,438 (death toll 425)
- Feb 4: 24,324 total cases, 490 deaths
- Feb 5: 28,018 (death toll up by 73, now 563)
Is that good or bad? The markets seem ok with them still.
The trading ranges are modest with all the major pairs well below their 22 day average trading range (about a month of trading). Apart from the GBPUSD with a range of 50 pips, the other pairs vs the USD are 27 pips or less. The USDCAD only has an 18 pip range at the start of the NA session.
In other markets:
- Spot gold is trading up $10.50 or 0.67% at $1566.54
- WTI crude oil futures are trading up $0.09 or 0.18% at $50.84
In the premarket for US stocks the futures are implying a higher opening:
- Dow is up 98 points
- NASDAQ index is up 38 points
- S&P index is up 10.81 points
in the European equity market major indices are also trading higher:
- German DAX, +0.6%
- France CAC, +0.6%
- UK's FTSE 100, +0.24%
- Spain's Ibex, +0.6%
- Italy's FTSE MIB, +0.8%
In the US debt market yields are moving marginally back to the downside after gains over the last few days.
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are mixed with the UK 10 year down to basis points while the Italian 10 year is currently up 3 basis points.
