Headlines:

Markets:

  • USD leads, EUR lags on the day
  • European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
  • US 10-year yields up 6 bps to 3.193%
  • Gold down 0.6% to $1,700.63
  • WTI crude down 1.3% to $88.35
  • Bitcoin down 0.6% to $20,080

With one more day to go to the US jobs report, the dollar is back in favour again as we flip the page from August to September. Equities and bonds were sold off since Asia trading and that is also helping to keep the dollar in control today.

The news front in Europe wasn't too significant but China is locking down yet another city, its largest one since Shanghai at the start of the year. But as we continue to count down to the Fed in the bigger picture, the dollar continues to maintain its allure while risk trades are looking rather soft towards the end of the week.

EUR/USD fell from 1.0030 to near parity and is holding at the lows now, while USD/JPY hit its highest levels since 1998 in Asia trading before holding just under that around 139.20-40 levels in Europe. The pound continues to suffer with GBP/USD slipping to 1.1550 and is holding near the lows now, down 0.5% to 1.1560 levels.

Meanwhile, USD/CAD is pulling higher towards 1.3200 while AUD/USD briefly dropped below 0.6800 but is now down 0.1% to 0.6830 on the day.

There is little relief in the equities space with European indices pressured lower by over 1% while US futures have kept lower throughout the session as well.

It's a brand new month but we're still carrying over the same old themes from the past few weeks. So, carry on as you will until we get to the NFP release tomorrow and then the long weekend in the US.