The USD is mixed
As North American traders enter for the day,the NZD is the strongest currency of the day. Blame can be put on the RBNZ for keeping rates unchanged when the expectations (75%) were for a cut of 25 basis points. New Zealand's neighbor, Australia is home to the weakest currency of the day. Taking out the near 1% decline vs the NZD, the USD is trading mixed with gains vs the AUD, CAD and GBP and declines vs the CHF and JPY. The EURUSD is near unchanged on the day. Fed chair Jay Powell will be testify on Capitol Hill at 11 AM ET. US CPI will be released at 8:30 AM ET.
Looking at the ranges and changes, the NZD pairs are outperforming but they are also off their highest highs (they were make in the first few minutes after the run higher on the no-change decision). The USDCHF and USDJPY are trading near their session lows. Yields are heading back down and the premarket for US stocks are pointing in the downward direction. European shares and yields are lower as well.
In the other markets, the snapshot is showing:
- Spot gold is rebounding and up $7.46 or +0.51% at $1463.70
- WTI crude oil futures are down $0.14 or -0.25% at $56.65
In the US premarket for US stocks, the futures are implying a lower opening. Yesterday, the NASDAQ index closed at a record high. The S&P fell short by about a point or two. The down industrial average at a rare day when it closed unchanged (that was equal to the all-time record):
- Dow, -84 points
- S&P -8 points
- Nasdaq -27 points
In the European markets, the major indices are moving to the downside:
- German DAX, -0.6%
- France's CAC, -0.3%
- UK's FTSE 100, -0.4%
- Spain's Ibex, -1.7%
- Italy's FTSE MIB, -1.2%
In the US debt market, yields are lower with the yield curve getting flatter by about to have to 3 basis points (2-10 year spread).
In the European debt market, the German France and UK yields are moving sharply lower, but the riskier countries yields are higher as investors are hesitant of the risk.
