The USD is lower vs. the EUR and GBP. Higher vs CHF and little changed vs other majors

As North American traders enter for the day, the GBP is the strongest. The CHF is the weakest. the USD is tilted to the downside overall with declines mainly vs the EUR and the GBP. The GBP is back above the 200 and 100 hour MAs (at 1.3136 and 1.3156) and the 100 day MA at 1.3143 (trades at 1.3163 currently). Less negative Brexit rhetoric has led to some short covering (or so it seems).

The ranges mostly low relatively (lower chart below) with all the pairs below their 22-day averages. The USDJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD have small ranges of less than 27 pips (those ranges will likely be extended before the close). The GBPUSD and EURUSD have the most activity and both are trading near the session highs.

In other markets:

  • Spot gold is up $2.56 or 0.21% at $1201.65
  • WTI crude oil futures are up $.25 or 0.35% at $72.34. OPEC and Iran sanctions continue to keep energy prices supported. Trump said he will not meet with Iran while at the UN summit. Trump speaks today there.
  • Bitcoin on Coinbase is down -$240 at $6384.58. That takes the price takes the price away from the 100 day MA at $6745 and back below the 200 hour MA at $6512.58 as well. The digital currency has two bottoms in September near the $6100 level

US stocks futures in premarket trading or implying a higher US opening:

  • Dow implied open +98 points
  • S&P implied open +8 points
  • NASDAQ implied open +21.75 points

Yesterday the string of record closes for the Dow was broken. The Nasdaq was the only gainer recovering from a -100 point decline to end up marginally.

European shares are trading higher:

  • German DAX, up 0.2%
  • France's CAC up 0.12%
  • UK's FTSE, up 0.5%
  • Spain's Ibex, unchanged
  • Italy's FTSE MIB, up 1.1%

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.29%. The Shanghai composite was down -0.58%. The Hang Seng index fell -1.62%

In the US that market yields are higher with the yield curve (2-10 year spread) flattening by -0.3 basis points:

European benchmark 10 year yields are mixed. Italian yields continue to whip around as they work through their budget. Yesterday they were up around 12 basis points. Today they are down about -8.0 basis points.

The economic calendar is highlighted by Richmond Fed and Consumer confidence (see calendar summary here)