Headlines:
Markets:
- USD leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities mostly lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
- US 10-year yields down 3 bps to 4.285%
- Gold flat at $2,028.53
- WTI crude down 1.0% to $77.44
- Bitcoin up 4.7% to $59,394
There weren’t any major headlines to steal the spotlight in Europe. But there were some decent moves to be observed, perhaps in consideration of month-end trading sentiment.
The dollar was firmer across the board, despite lower bond yields on the day. The bid in the greenback is arguably helped by equities stumbling, with US futures pushing lower during the session.
EUR/USD dropped from 1.0835 to 1.0800 while GBP/USD fell from 1.2670 to 1.2620 levels during the session. Both pairs are off their earlier lows but are still both down 0.3% on the day.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY is just a touch higher around 150.63 with the earlier high testing the highs for the month near 150.80 before holding back.
The commodity currencies are the ones suffering the most with USD/CAD up 0.4% to 1.3585, its highest level since December. Meanwhile, NZD/USD is hammered lower after the RBNZ left its OCR unchanged. The pair was down already to 0.6110 in Asia before extending lower to around 0.6095 now, down 1.2% on the day.
While stocks are struggling, Bitcoin is not suffering from any lack of enthusiasm as it continues the hot streak this week. Price is up nearly 5% in a surge above $59,000 as buyers target the $60,000 mark next.