The strongest to the weakest of the major currencies
The NZD is the strongest of the major currencies while the JPY is the weakest as the North American session begins.
Today, the Canadian employment data, will be released at 8:30 AM ET, and will provide valuable insights into the state of the country’s labor market. It also is a 1st major economic data since the Bank of Canada increase rates by 25 basis points earlier this week. The last report indicated an employment change of 41.4K. However, the new data is expected to show a reduced figure of 21.2K, suggesting a possible slowdown in job creation. The unemployment rate, previously at 5.0%, is projected to marginally increase to 5.1%, which would indicate a slight uptick in joblessness. Meanwhile, the Canadian capacity utilization rate, a measure of how effectively the country uses its available economic resources, is expected to improve, rising from 81.7% to 82.0%.
Meanwhile overnight, China’s economic recovery may be wilting, as recent inflation data show a significant decrease in factory gate prices, along with a slower-than-expected rise in consumer prices. This comes as a stark contrast to the U.S. and Europe, which are struggling with high inflation rates. The US CPI inflation data will be released on Tuesday with expectations of a 0.2% rise. After an initial surge in economic activity post-pandemic, indicators suggest that China’s economic growth is slowing down, potentially veering toward deflation. The producer price index declined by 4.6%, marking the eighth consecutive monthly decrease. Consumer prices only increased by 0.2% annually, missing the projected 0.3% rise. Despite the People’s Bank of China and other state-run banks’ attempts to boost local liquidity by cutting interest rates on yuan deposits, inflation numbers remain disappointing, raising concerns about an impending economic slowdown. The USDCNH has rebounded (lower CNH) today after reaching a new 2023 high (and high going back to November 2022), but closing lower yesterday.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) still perceives a need for continued monetary stimulus, The bank regards its inflation target as out of reach and sees little necessity to adjust the Yield Curve Control (YCC) in June. Having said that, the BoJ reportedly views inflation as stronger than expected. The news has helped to push the USDJPY back above the converged 100 and 200 our moving averages at 139.589. The high price reached 139.717. However, this rise has been pared down, with the prices currently trading down at 139.40 and back below the converged moving averages.
USDJPY trades near the middle of the trading range this week
In Bitcoin news, Moody’s lowered its rating of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) to “negative” from “stable,” following a lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency exchange by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This comes as part of a broader SEC crackdown on the crypto industry. Bitcoin is still trading somewhat steady at $26,568 with a very narrow range of $26,289 to $26,683. Last Friday closed at $27,251.
A snapshot of the markets currently shows:
- Crude oil is up $0.34 or 0.48% at $71.62
- Spot gold is trading up $1.02 or 0.05% 1966.72
- Silver is up $0.11 or 0.47% at $24.35
- Bitcoin is trading at $26,600 up modestly
In the premarket for US stocks, the major indices are now trading mix but little changed. Tesla shares are up for the 11th consecutive day after the announcement of a partnership with GM regarding GM conforming their EV cars to Tesla’s charging stations. Ford announced the same agreement a few weeks ago. Tesla share is our trading up $13.70 or 5.81% or $248.57:
- Dow Industrial Average is trading down -56.61 points after yesterday’s 168.59 point rise
- S&P index is trading unchanged after yesterday 26.41 point rise
- NASDAQ index is trading up 19 points after yesterday’s 133.63 point rise
In the European equity markets, the major indices are trading lower.
- German DAX -0.17%
- Frances CAC -0.34%
- UK’s FTSE 100 -0.62%
- Spain’s Ibex -0.28%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB -0.23% (delayed)
In the Asian Pacific market today stock indices were mixed:
- Japan’s Nikkei rebounded on the final day of the week rising by 1.97%
- Hang Seng index rose 0.47%
- Shanghai composite index rose 0.55%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.32%
In the US debt market yields are trading higher
- 2-year yield 4.566%, +4.7 basis points
- 5-year yield 3.905% up 5.0 basis points
- 10-year yield 3.758%, +4.5 basis points
- 30-year yield 3.919%, +3.6 basis points
In the European debt market, benchmark 10 year yields are mostly higher (the exception is UK 10 year yield):
European benchmark 10 year yields