Headlines:
Markets:
- USD leads, EUR and GBP lag on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 2.3 bps to 3.998%
- Gold up 1.0% to $2,048.83
- WTI crude up 3.6% to $74.62
- Bitcoin down 0.9% to $45,720
There are a couple of interesting moves in markets today and they are all tied to different events to some extent.
The reversal action after the US CPI data yesterday is helping to see European stocks push higher in playing catch up to the rebound in US stocks yesterday. But US futures are holding lower today, not helped by disappointing bank earnings from the likes of JP Morgan, BofA, and Wells Fargo.
At the same time, bond yields are keeping a little higher and that is helping to underpin the dollar across the board. USD/JPY dipped to around 144.90 early in the day before recovering now to flat levels at 145.30. Meanwhile, EUR/USD is down 0.3% to 1.0940 and GBP/USD also down 0.3% to 1.2725 on the day.
In the commodities space, the US and UK strikes on Yemen seem to be the driving factor as oil prices climb by nearly 4% and briefly pushed past the $75 mark earlier. Even gold is also seemingly finding a safety bid as price pushes up by 1% to $2,048 as buyers are looking for a near-term breakout after the downtrend to start the new year.
And over to Bitcoin, we’re seeing price action pull lower in more subdued trading after the ETF debut yesterday. Are we on the verge of a sell the fact trade building from here?