As workforces across the globe are back to normal today, the GBP is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest. The USD is mixed to stronger thanks predominantly to the rise in the greenback vs the JPY as the USDJPY moves above 116.00 for the first time since January 2017 helped by higher yields.
Some things in play today:
- US ISM data will be released a day later than usual at 10 AM ET.
- JOLTs job data will continue to show high job openings
- OPEC+ started their meeting where they are expected to continue its plan to increase production quota by 400K BPD (with the caveat that some countries may not be able to meet quotas on the production side). Crude oil is up about 0.25%.
- Omicron cases continue to surge in the US but the hope is that it will not strain hospitals and will lead to a faster herd immunity. Fingers crossed.
- Stocks are higher in premarket trading after the Dow and S&P closed at record levels on the first day of the calendar year. The UK stock market is open today (after yesterday's holiday) and higher. Other European indices are higher at midday
- US yields are modestly higher after yesterday's surge that saw the yield curve steepen wit the 10 and 30 year yields up close to 14 basis points.
A look around the markets are showing:
- Spot gold is trading down $0.80 or -0.4% at $1800.30
- Spot silver is down $0.18 -0.79% at $22.69
- WTI crude oil futures are up $0.19 or 0.25% at $76.25
- The price of bitcoin is trading steady on the day at $46,531
The snapshot of the US stock markets show that the futures are implying higher openings for the major indices:
- Dow industrial average up 92.94 points after yesterday's 246.76 point rise (record close)
- S&P index up 10.1 points after yesterday's 30.3 point rise (record close)
- NASDAQ index up 15 points after yesterday's 187.83 point rise
The European equity markets:
- German DAX is up 0.75%
- France's CAC is up 1.3%
- UK's FTSE 100 is up 1.4%
- Spain's Ibex is up 0.5%
- Italy's FTSE MIB is up 0.8%
The US debt market, yields are up across the board with the gain of 3.3 basis points in the 10 year sector leading the way.
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are mixed. The UK yields are up 8.8 basis points in a catch up after yesterday's holiday. The three yields are mixed in Europe today.
