Headlines:
- All eyes on Lagarde presser when it comes to the ECB today
- EUR/USD bounce yesterday not anything significant, eyes the ECB later today
- Oil climbs to eight-week highs as Red Sea attacks continue
- Germany January Ifo business climate index 85.2 vs 86.7 expected
- France January business confidence 98 vs 98 prior
- UK January CBI retailing reported sales -50 vs -32 prior
- UK Treasury and BOE say that it is too early to decide on introduction of digital pound
- Japan maintains overall economic view in January but warns of impact of Noto earthquake
Markets:
- AUD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures flat
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 4.168%
- Gold up 0.1% to $2,014.93
- WTI crude up 1.1% to $75.92
- Bitcoin up 0.2% to $39,841
It was a quieter session as markets are awaiting the ECB policy decision later today. Major currencies weren't up to much with little change seen in Treasuries and risk assets in general. Traders are waiting on the ECB and Lagarde's press conference before really making up their minds, following the more push and pull action this week.
The dollar is largely steadier with EUR/USD stuck in a narrow range around 1.0880-90 levels mostly. Meanwhile, USD/JPY is up just 0.1% to 147.65 and keeping just above the 100-day moving average of 147.51 for now. Other dollar pairs are also not much changed, so there wasn't much to really scrutinise on the session.
In other markets, oil prices did climb higher as tensions in the Red Sea continue to permeate. WTI crude briefly touched an eight-week high of $76.37 and is still keeping up 1% just under $76 currently. As for equities, US futures are looking rather muted while European indices are lower as we await the ECB.
