Headlines:
- French government also survives second no-confidence motion today
- French government survives first no-confidence motion
- China's Commerce Ministry says rare earth export controls are different to an export ban
- Japan's Nippon Ishin party co-leader says found a lot of common ground with LDP today
- Fed's Miran: The Fed should cut by 50 bps but expect it will be a 25 bps move
- Fed's Waller: Not much has changed over the last six weeks
- ECB's Wunsch: Probability of another cut has been receding
- ECB's Muller: There's a good case for keeping rates where they are
- ECB's Kocher: We are at the end of the rate cut cycle, or very close to it
- ECB's Dolenc: Inflation risks are balanced, growth is on a solid path
- BOJ's Tamura declines to comment on whether he will favour a rate hike this month
- BOJ's Tamura says weaker yen currency could accelerate upward price pressure
- Watchful eyes on the next Australian CPI report to confirm RBA's next move
- UK chancellor Reeves: I'd like more fiscal headroom but that comes with tradeoffs
- UK August monthly GDP +0.1% vs +0.1% m/m expected
- Eurozone August trade balance €1.0 billion vs €12.4 billion prior
- Italy September final CPI +1.6% vs +1.6% y/y prelim
Markets:
- GBP leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields down 2.1 bps to 4.024%
- Gold up 0.8% to $4,242.13
- WTI crude up 0.8% to $58.72
- Bitcoin up 0.7% to $111,932
It was a quiet session for the most part as markets are finding some steadiness, awaiting further US-China developments. Trump is confirmed to visit South Korea on 29 to 30 October and that sets up a likely meeting with Xi Jinping, who is slated to attend the APEC Summit on 31 October to 1 November.
For now, the focus stays on that with both sides trying to find some common ground to work with ahead of the likely meeting.
In Europe, the French government survived both the no-confidence motions today and that's helping to keep French stocks buoyed on the week. But the euro remains fairly unfazed, with major currencies not seeing too much action on the day.
The dollar is trading more mixed, with no major catalysts to work with as US data remains frozen amid the government shutdown.
EUR/USD is flat around 1.1650 with USD/JPY just marginally higher by 0.1% to 151.16 on the session. AUD/USD is down 0.2% to 0.6495 but off earlier lows of 0.6480 at least after the softer Australian jobs report.
In the equities space, stocks are holding on to some gains with US futures also nudging slightly higher. Investors are not running away with the optimism though, after having been dealt a bit of a setback yesterday in US trading. So, there is caution up in the air for now.
In the commodities space though, it's once again all about gold as the precious metal races higher to $4,240 levels and marking fresh record highs. All aboard now! 🚂
