The NZD is the strongest and the AUD is the weakest as the NA session begins. The USD is mostly lower.
The BOE continued its war on the UK government bond market citing risk to the UK financial stability. The central bank is set to buy index-linked Gilts (and convential equivalents) to help stabilize the persistent selling which is threatening the assets of the UK pension system. The GBPUSD traded just below 1.1000, but has seen a bounce (trades at 1.1086). The GBP is marginally higher in early North American trading. The benchmark 10 year yield is down marginally.
The Russian continuation of its war has intensified as it bombs civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine. It is back on the front page as the calendar enters the autumn ahead of the winter where energy will be a daily concern. The price of crude oil is lower today as the markets react today tot he expectations of lower demand. The price has been rising since bottoming at $76.25 on September 26. The high price yesterday reached $93.64 before heading lower. Today the price has traded to a low so far of $88.46.
US stocks are trading lower in pre-market trading. The major indices could not hold onto gains yesterday and closed lower for the 4th consecutive day.
A snapshot of the markets is showing:
- spot gold is trading up $1 or 0.08% at $1669.29
- spot silver is down $0.19 -1.02% at $19.39
- WTI crude oil is trading $89.36 that's down minus 1.94%
- Bitcoin is trading at $19,142
In the premarket for US stocks, the major indices are marginally lower (they were lower in early premarket trading (the Dow was down around 200 points at the lows). The indices are down for 4 consecutive days:
- Dow industrial average -71 points after yesterdays -93.91 point decline
- S&P index -12.5 points after yesterdays -27.27 point decline
- NASDAQ index -48 points after yesterdays -110.3 point decline
in the European equity markets, the major indices are also lower:
- German DAX, -0.59%
- France's CAC -0.33%
- UK's FTSE 100 -0.79%
- Spain's Ibex -0.57%
- Italy's FTSE MIB -1.2%
in the US debt market, yields are mostly higher with a steeper curve.
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are mixed. UK 10 year yields are trading marginally to the downside after sharp rises over the last few days:
- German 10 year 2.315%, -0.7 basis points
- France's 10 year 2.901%, +0.3 basis points
- UK 10 year 4.427%, -4.5 basis points
- Spain 10 year 3.474%, -0.6 basis points
- Italy's tenure 4.72% +8.7 basis points