Markets:
- Gold flat at $1962
- US 10-year yields flat at 3.69%
- WTI crude down 59-cents to $71.56
- S&P 500 up 11 points to 4282
- Bitcoin up 5.9% to $27,150
- AUD leads, EUR lags
Bitcoin was the star of the show with trading light in FX. The SEC went after Binance yesterday and Coinbase today but the details of the lawsuit didn’t scare the market as no major problems (at least so far) were uncovered. That led to a ‘buy the fact’ trade and bitcoin completely erased yesterday’s decline in a rebound to $27,000.
The risk mood in the market sagged early but recovered later as stocks found a bid and an early slump in fixed income retraced. The big story earlier was the surprise RBA hike but AUD was giving some back in early North American trade before it got a second wind in a rebound to 0.6672 from 0.6641.
The loonie and New Zealand dollars also climbed after touching lows early in US trade. The loonie got some help from a bounce in oil and gas prices but with the BOC tomorrow, the market is certainly primed for another surprise. With market pricing a 50/50 for a hike, someone will be surprised either way.
The euro was soft and a fall through yesterday’s lows briefly led to a broad round of US dollar buying but the dollar couldn’t sustain the bid and EUR/USD bounced back close to 1.0700.