Headlines:
- USD/JPY retreat continues, set for fourth straight day of declines
- BOE's Bailey: We are on target to get inflation back to 2%
- BOE's Bailey: Markets underestimate risk of inflation persistence
- Switzerland October trade balance CHF 4.60 billion vs CHF 6.32 billion prior
- Japan small manufacturers' union demands record base pay rise for next year
- China premier Li Qiang to attend the G20 virtual summit tomorrow
- North Korea says it is to launch a satellite in the coming days
Markets:
- NZD leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities mostly lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 4.4412%
- Gold up 0.5% to $1,987.79
- WTI crude down 0.3% to $77.62
- Bitcoin down 0.6% to $37,220
It was a quiet session but we got more of the same flows in FX again today. The dollar remains weak, with USD/JPY being pushed lower and set for a fourth consecutive daily drop. The pair is down 0.5% to 147.55 with the earlier low touching 147.15 in Asia trading.
Meanwhile, the antipodeans continue to shine as well with NZD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6705 and AUD/USD up 0.3% to 0.6575 with the latter running up near key resistance on the charts. The euro and pound are also seeing light gains against the greenback, with EUR/USD up 0.1% to 1.0948 and GBP/USD up 0.3% to 1.2537 at the moment.
All of this comes despite equities seeing the recent optimism halted for now, with US futures a touch lower with Nvidia earnings in focus amid all the OpenAI drama.
In the bond market, Treasury yields are slightly lower as well but mostly little changed on the day. That is still helping gold to stay underpinned, up 0.5% to $1,987 and eyeing the $2,000 mark once more.
The Fed minutes will be in focus later in US trading but barring any surprises, it seems like traders are content to carry on with the prevailing mood in this holiday-shortened week.
