The USD is mixed
As North American traders enter for the day, the ECB has kept rates unchanged with little change in the forward guidance. They said:
- Rates to remain at present or lower levels until inflation outlook robustly converges to target, reflected in underlying inflation
The ECBs Lagarde will hold a press conference at the bottom of the hour.
In China, the government is curtailing activity ahead of the Lunar New Year in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus. The number of deaths are up to 25 (from 17 yesterday).
The snapshot of the percentage changes and rankings of the major currencies is showing the AUD is the strongest after better than expected jobs data. The CAD is the weakest as it continues the trend (more modestly) of the moves yesterday after the more dovish BOC statement. The USD is mixed with declines vs the AUD, JPY and NZD and gains vs the CAD, GBP, CHF and EUR.
Looking at the ranges and changes, the AUDUSD is leading the way for the majors with a 40 pip high to low trading range. The GBPUSD only has a 33 pip range today, well below its 90 pip 22 day average. It is consolidating the gains seen over the last two days. The EURUSD has only mustered 21 pips in an up and down session.
In other markets:
- Spot gold is down -$3.60 or -0.23% at $1555.20
- WTI crude oil is down -$1.09 or -1.94% at $55.64 and continuing the fall from yesterday. that took the price back below its 100 day MA at $57.25 (CLICK HERE)
In the pre-market for US stocks, the futures are implying a lower opening:
- Dow is down -61.27 points
- S&P is down -5.80 points
- Nasdaq is down -3.83 points
In the European markets, the major indices are mixed:
- German Dax, -0.4%
- France's CAC -0.1%
- UK FTSE 100, -0.4%
- Spain's Ibex, unchanged
- Italy's FTSE MIB+0.5%
In the US debt market, yields are lower with the yield curve flattening about 1 basis point:
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are all tilting to the downside today ahead of the ECB press conference at the bottom of the hour.
