The pound is lower owing to the softer UK CPI report earlier here. That rebuffed BOE rate cut expectations for next month, which were already high to begin with. Traders saw ~80% odds of a 25 bps rate cut for November and bolstered that to ~91% now. GBP/USD fell from around 1.3070 to a low of 1.2983 before keeping just above 1.3000 currently.
The figure level is the key line in the sand to watch on the daily chart, with the technical backdrop outlined here.
There’s not much else as the dollar continues to keep steadier and consolidate gains since the start of the month. EUR/USD remains just under 1.0900 while USD/JPY is lightly changed at 149.20 after a brief dip under 149.00 in Asia.
Besides that, AUD/USD remains one to watch as it is flirting with a key technical support level as noted here.
Looking to the equities space, UK stocks are buoyed by the softer inflation numbers but European indices are all lower with declines led by France. Budget worries are weighing on French stocks but they have trimmed declines from over 1% to around 0.4% now.
In the bond market, 10-year Treasury yields are nudging back lower towards the 4% mark and that is something to be mindful of in case yields do turn lower still. In that lieu, gold is being driven higher to $2,680 now as it closes in on fresh record highs last month near $2,685.