Headlines:
- Eurozone February Sentix investor confidence 16.6 vs 15.2 expected
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 4 February CHF 725.0 bn vs CHF 724.9 bn prior
- Oil begins to cede some ground on the day
- UK January Halifax house prices +0.3% vs +1.1% m/m prior
- Germany December industrial production -0.3% vs +0.4% m/m expected
- ECB's Kazaks: A July rate hike would imply extremely quick, unlikely pace of tapering
Markets:
- CAD leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities a little higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 0.7 bps to 1.925%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,812.70
- WTI down 0.8% to $91.50
- Bitcoin up 4.8% to $42,599
It was a quiet session for the most part with little headlines for traders and investors to work with.
The market is settling down after a bit of a hectic one last week, with Treasury yields lightly lower and equities in a light state of flux in European morning trade. Major currencies also saw some light changes with the dollar more mixed overall.
The aussie and loonie are notable gainers so far on the day, with USD/CAD down 0.4% to 1.2710 and AUD/USD up 0.4% to 0.7100.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY is down a touch from around 115.10 to 114.90-00 levels at the moment. This comes as Treasury yields are lightly lower though off earlier lows. 10-year yields were down to around 1.90% earlier but are now back up to 1.92%.
EUR/USD also saw a bit of a light shove lower to 1.1416 before recovering back to near flat levels now around 1.1444. ECB policymakers Kazaks and Knot ruled out a rate hike during the middle of the year, pushing back a little against the market pricing of a 10 bps rate hike in June. But we'll know more from the ECB outlook once March comes.
Elsewhere, oil is another notable mover as prices were initially steady in Asia before slumping a little in Europe. WTI was down over 1% to below $91 before paring back some of that loss to $91.60 currently. The news on the Iran deal progress over the weekend being the main factor at play.
