Headlines:
- Dollar struggles to build on post-NFP gains, focus turns to CPI next
- The US Dollar fails to rally on the hot NFP: signal of weakness or caution ahead of CPI?
- Precious metals hold more rangebound again after the US jobs report
- How has the Fed outlook changed after the hot US jobs report yesterday?
- US-China trade truce sees a number of key China tech curbs being shelved – report
- China now tries to play nice with the EU with latest trade rulings
- SoftBank says nothing has been decided about additional funding round in OpenAI
- RBA’s Sarah Hunter says labour market tight, inflation to stay above target
- UK Q4 preliminary GDP +0.1% vs +0.2% q/q expected
Markets:
- US dollar little changed, fails to build on non-farm payroll gains
- Gold down 0.4% to $5,061, silver down 1.5% to $82.73
- European indices push higher, DAX up over 1%
- US futures keep steady, S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- Bitcoin up 0.2% to $67,891
- WTI crude oil down 0.6% to $64.55
- 10-year Treasury yields down 2 bps to 4.16%
There wasn’t too much in terms of headlines on the session, as markets settle down after the US jobs report yesterday.
The stronger non-farm payrolls data yesterday saw the dollar move higher but there was no follow up to that in trading today. The greenback is keeping a bit more mixed with light changes all around for the most part.
EUR/USD is up 0.1% to 1.1880 while USD/JPY is also up 0.1% to 153.45, with the latter having slumped earlier to around 152.30 in Asia trading. Besides that, GBP/USD is up marginally by 0.1% to 1.3645 even as UK Q4 GDP data underwhelms while USD/CAD is also down just a touch by 0.1% to 1.3560 on the day.
In other markets, precious metals kept more rangebound on the week with a slight drop today. That after the slight optimism before the jobs data yesterday was tempered with and that is keeping price action in check. Gold is down 0.4% to $5,061 with silver down 1.5% to $82.73 currently.
Meanwhile, equities are keeping in a steadier mood today with European indices pushing higher while US futures hold a slight advance. A Reuters report citing a continued truce between US and China ahead of Trump’s visit to Beijing in April will help to keep the calm as we await Wall Street to enter the fray. Tech shares will once again be under heavy scrutiny after recent developments in the past week, with software stocks being hammered especially.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin is consolidating losses below $70,000 on the week around $67,891 currently while oil prices are down as the back and forth swings continue amid the whole US-Iran geopolitical showdown. WTI crude oil is lower by 0.6% to $64.55 on the day.
Coming up later, we do have the US weekly initial jobless claims to get through. However, the big picture focus now turns towards the US CPI report tomorrow. That will be the next key risk event that markets will be eyeing before the weekend.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.
