The AUD is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest as the NA session begins

The AUD AUD The Australian dollar (AUD) is the official currency of Australia, which is also used in Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island, as well as independent pacific states.Introduced in 1966, the AUD is currently the fifth most traded currency in the world, behind only the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound.The currency is very important to forex markets and is routinely used as a carry trade against other majors.The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is the central bank The Australian dollar (AUD) is the official currency of Australia, which is also used in Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Norfolk Island, as well as independent pacific states.Introduced in 1966, the AUD is currently the fifth most traded currency in the world, behind only the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and British pound.The currency is very important to forex markets and is routinely used as a carry trade against other majors.The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is the central bank Read this Term is the strongest and the JPY JPY The Japanese yen (JPY) is the official currency of Japan and at the time of writing is the third most-traded currency in the world behind only the US dollar and euro.The JPY is used extensively as a reserve currency and is relied upon by forex traders as a safe haven currency.Originally implemented in 1871, the JPY has had a long history and has survived multiple world wars and other events. This was followed by the creation of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 1882 and the full oversight of the JPY by The Japanese yen (JPY) is the official currency of Japan and at the time of writing is the third most-traded currency in the world behind only the US dollar and euro.The JPY is used extensively as a reserve currency and is relied upon by forex traders as a safe haven currency.Originally implemented in 1871, the JPY has had a long history and has survived multiple world wars and other events. This was followed by the creation of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 1882 and the full oversight of the JPY by Read this Term is the weakest as the North American session begins. The price action is mostly supporting a risk-on sentiment today.

IN the European session today:

• Japanese Preliminary Machine Tool Orders (year over year) came in at -14.4%, which is a slight improvement from the previous -15.2%.

• German Wholesale Price Index (month over month) was -0.4%, which is a decrease compared to the expected 0.3% and the previous 0.2%.

• Swiss Producer Price Index (month over month) was reported at 0.2%, which matches the previous figure and is slightly higher than the expected 0.1%.

• Eurozone Industrial Production (month over month) was -4.1%, a significant decrease compared to the expected -2.5% and a drastic drop from the previous figure of 1.5%.

Over the weekend, optimism around the possibility of a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling increased after President Joe Biden revealed ongoing talks with Congress. The key players, including President Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, are expected to reconvene this week to resume negotiations. Despite the ongoing deliberations, President Biden is confident enough to maintain his travel plans to Japan for the G7 summit on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated her warning of a potential first-ever U.S. debt default if the debt ceiling isn't raised by June 1.

The major stock indices are all trading higher in pre-market trading after major indices closed marginally lower on Friday. The Dow is looking to snap a 5-day decline.

Investors anticipate the Empire manufacturing index today and other key economic data releases this week including a series of speeches from Federal Reserve officials throughout the week.

• Monday, May 15:

• 8:30am: USD - Empire State Manufacturing Index. Expected: -3.7, Last: 10.8
• 8:30AM: Feds Goolsbee is expected to be interviewed on CNBC

• Tuesday, May 16:

• 2:00am: GBP - Claimant Count Change. Expected: 31.2K, Last: 28.2K
• 8:30am: CAD - CPI m/m. Expected: 0.5%, Last: 0.5%
• 8:30am: CAD - Median CPI y/y. Expected: 4.3%, Last: 4.6%
• 8:30am: CAD - Trimmed CPI y/y. Expected: 4.1%, Last: 4.4%
• 8:30am: USD - Core Retail Sales m/m. Expected: 0.5%, Last: -0.8%
• 8:30am: USD - Retail Sales m/m. Expected: 0.8%, Last: -1.0%
• 9:30pm: AUD - Wage Price Index q/q. Expected: 0.9%, Last: 0.8%

• Wednesday, May 17:

• 5:50am: GBP - BOE Gov Bailey Speaks
• 9:30pm: AUD - Employment Change. Expected: 24.1K, Last: 53.0K
• 9:30pm: AUD - Unemployment Rate. Expected: 3.5%, Last: 3.5%

• Thursday, May 18:

• 8:30am: USD - Unemployment Claims. Expected: 251K, Last: 264K
• 11:00am: CAD - BOC Gov Macklem Speaks

• Friday, May 19:

• 11:00am: USD - Fed Chair Powell Speaks. Due to participate in a panel discussion titled "Perspectives on Monetary Policy" at the Thomas Laubach Research Conference, in Washington DC. Traders often scrutinize this for interest rate clues.

Gold is marginally higher, as is oil prices as it's overall sentiment remains weakish due to concerns about economic weakness in the U.S. and China.

Finally, during an interview at the Atlanta Fed conference in Amelia Island, Georgia, Fed's Bostic said that the Federal Reserve is not considering rate cuts until well into 2024 due to persistently high inflation. He believes that inflation will not come down quickly and there is a slight bias for it to rise further. The economy is expected to work in the Fed's favor regarding inflation in the next few months. Bostic also mentioned that businesses and households still see inflationary pressures as short-term. With solid capital positions and low risk, banks are likely to be more conservative in lending due to economic uncertainty. While there is some risk of recession, Bostic doesn't consider it his base risk and believes that any potential recession would be neither long nor deep. In the event of a recession, the Fed would likely not cut rates, and any increase in unemployment would still indicate a strong economy. Fed's Goolsbee will be interviewed at the same conference shortly on CNBC.

A snapshot of the markets is showing:

• Gold is trading up at $2 or 0.10% at $2013.
• Silver is trading unchanged at $23.95
• WTI crude oil trading up $0.41 or 0.59% at $70.45
• Bitcoin is trading at $27,349. At the 5 PM close on Friday the price is trading at $26,724.

Looking at the premarket for US stocks, the major indices are higher:

• Dow Industrial Average is up 132.38 points after falling -8.89 points on Friday
• S&P index is up 16 points after Friday's -6.56 point decline
• NASDAQ is up 35 points after Friday's after Friday's -43.76 point decline

the European equity markets, the major indices are mixed:

• German DAX +0.19%
• Frances CAC +0.35%
• UK's FTSE 100 +0.47%
• Spain Ibex -0.17%
• Italy's FTSE MIB unchanged

In the US debt market, yields are higher:

• 2 year yield 4.025% +2.1 basis points
• 5 year yield 3.484% +3.3 basis points
• 10 year yield 3.500% +3.7 basis points
• 30 year yield 3.822+4.5 basis points

in the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are higher: