- France December trade balance -€11.32 billion vs -€9.73 billion prior
- Kremlin: Russia and France not able to strike a deal at this stage
- Macron: What I gathered from talks with Putin is that there was no further escalation of Ukraine situation
- US January NFIB small business optimism index 97.1 vs 97.5 expected
- China calls for US to correct wrongdoings after adding some Chinese entities to 'unverified list'
- ECB's de Cos: Recent inflation data has shown surprising upwards trend
- China state funds reportedly said to buy stocks to slow market decline
- German health minister says COVID-19 peak infection rate expected around mid-February
- Japan January economy watchers survey current conditions 37.9 vs 56.4 prior
Markets:
- WTI crude down $1.72 to $89.60
- US 10-year yields up 2.7 bps to 1.94%
- Gold up $1 to $1818
- S&P 500 futures down 0.2%
- USD leads, CAD lags
US dollar buying has accelerated in the last hour as the risk mood deteriorates. That goes against the main geopolitical stance in markets, which appear to be pricing in a lower chance of a Russian invasion into Ukraine after Macron's comments. Oil has slipped, dragging CAD down.
The bond market remains a key focus as US 10s got up to 1.96% before giving a bit back. That's helped to keep a bid in the US dollar.
