Headlines:
- Stocks in a better mood so far today
- UK March payrolls change 31k vs 98k prior
- Germany April ZEW survey current conditions -32.5 vs -40.0 expected
- BOJ's Ueda: Positive signs are emerging in prices, wage growth
- JP Morgan, Citi upgrade China 2023 full-year GDP growth forecast
Markets:
- NZD leads, USD lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
- US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 3.567%
- Gold up 0.5% to $2,004.21
- WTI crude down 0.2% to $80.70
- Bitcoin up 2.8% to $30,287
It was a relatively quiet session but markets were active, with the dollar slumping as it gets dragged back into the mud after the gains on Friday and Monday. This comes as equities are seen more upbeat, perhaps cheering on the more robust China Q1 GDP data earlier in the day.
The pound also caught a bit of a lift as UK wage pressures continue to run hot, beating on estimates. Put together the above factors and GBP/USD is running up by 0.5% to 1.2430 levels now, up from around 1.2385 earlier today.
As the dollar softened, EUR/USD is seen moving up from 1.0930 to 1.0980 while USD/JPY also dropped from 134.50 to 133.90 with Treasury yields also reversing to fall lower during the session.
The antipodeans are also enjoying life today with AUD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6740 and NZD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6220 at the moment, hanging at the highs for the day.
In other markets, gold is also quietly climbing back above the $2,000 mark as it capitalises on the dollar's weakness while we are seeing Bitcoin also shoot higher in the last 15 minutes in a burst back above $30,000.
