Headlines:
- Risk selling continues ahead of Wall Street open
- EUR/CHF finally makes a run for it
- UK gilt yields surge higher at the open as fiscal concerns mount
- Sterling jumps on UK improved fiscal forecast from Reeve's budget watchdog
- ECB's Kazaks: The current interest rate level is in line with inflation
- BOJ says deputy governor Uchida still expected to attend December policy meeting
- France October final CPI +0.9% vs +1.0% y/y prelim
- Spain October final CPI +3.1% vs +3.1% y/y prelim
- Eurozone Q3 GDP second estimate +0.2% vs +0.2% q/q prelim
Markets:
- CHF leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 1.0%
- US 10-year yields down 3.6 bps to 4.075%
- Gold down 1.3% to $4,116.32
- WTI crude oil up 1.5% to $59.60
- Bitcoin down 3.9% to $94,907
As we look to close out the week, the risk selling continues from yesterday with things looking rough now the closer we approach to North America trading. Equities accelerated declines during the session and what was seemingly a calmer mood in the bond market also now quickly turned into bids in a flight to safety. Risk off.
In the major currencies space, things started off slowly but now we're starting to see the Japanese yen and Swiss franc pull ahead amid safety flows. USD/JPY hovered around 154.40-60 for the most part but is now dropping back towards 154.00 on the day. Meanwhile, USD/CHF is down 0.5% to 0.7890 but EUR/CHF is the one finally breaking below 0.9200 in a drop to its lowest since 2015.
Besides that, the pound was punished as it seems that UK chancellor Reeves will be abandoning tax hikes and that's drawing fiscal concerns amid ongoing political uncertainty in the UK. Cable dropped to 1.3110 early on but recovered as markets digested Reeves' plans to try and cover the shortfall from tax hikes. The pair is now trading back up to 1.3170 but still down 0.2% on the day.
Circling back to equities, US futures are marked lower after a sluggish start to the session with S&P 500 futures now down over 1%. Tech shares are the ones leading declines in pre-market once more with Nvidia down over 3% currently. In Europe, the well over 1% drop across the board threatens to take away a huge chunk of the gains from earlier this week in what looks to be a stuttering end to what could have been a stellar week.
In other markets, 10-year Treasury yields held steady around 4.13% for most of the session but have dipped back down to just under 4.08% now ahead of US trading. As for gold, the selling intensified in the precious metal alongside the softer risk mood with price falling over 1% to $4,116. That also sees price break back below key near-term levels in undoing the upside momentum this week. Edgy.
