Headlines:
- ECB's Vasle: The right time to start hiking rates is before the summer
- ECB's Nagel: The window for taking monetary policy action is slowly closing
- ECB's Villeroy: Reasonable to raise rates into positive territory by year-end
- The BOE is everything the Fed is afraid it would become
- Don't take your eyes off the bond market
- BOE's Pill: We don't have a forex target or objective
- UK April Halifax house prices +1.1% vs +1.4% m/m prior
- Germany March industrial production -3.9% vs -1.0% m/m expected
Markets:
- EUR leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.6%
- US 10-year yields up 2.7 bps to 3.095%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,882.30
- WTI crude up 2.2% to $110.63
- Bitcoin down 1.7% to $35,846
The session started with more on the same kind of mood from yesterday, as the dollar pushed higher while equities slumped.
Of note, GBP/USD fell to fresh lows since June 2020 below 1.2300 while EUR/USD dropped to a low of 1.0483. The moves held only for a brief moment though as the dollar then gave back its earlier gains as flows continue to dominate proceedings for now.
That saw EUR/USD bounce back to 1.0540 before picking up further on the back of more hawkish ECB undertones. That pushed the pair towards 1.0600, before settling just below that.
GBP/USD also picked itself up from 1.2275 to 1.2350, down just 0.1% on the day now. Meanwhile, AUD/USD recovered from a low of 0.7065 to 0.7105 but is now keeping just below 0.7100 - down 0.3% on the day.
USD/JPY was more steady though, but seen dropping from 130.70 to 130.40 even as Treasury yields are keeping elevated.
Elsewhere, oil is continuing to push for a breakout as WTI crude takes another peek above the $110 level.
US non-farm payrolls will be in focus next but it's all about the usual suspects still as flow-based momentum remains the key driver of markets going into the weekend.
