The USD is lower ahead of Retail sales/PMI/FOMC
As North American traders enter for the day ahead of the retail sales (at 8:30 AM ET), Markit PMI (at 9:45 AM ET) and FOMC decision (at 2 PM ET), the GBP is the strongest on hopes for Brexit deal, the CAD is the weakest (and off the lowest levels since April 2018 reached yesterday). The USD is weaker with the greenback down mostly vs the GBP (-0.62%), the EUR (-0.32%) and JPY (-0.31%). The Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged but may alter the makeup of their purchases more toward the longer end. Retail sales are expected to get back the 0.3% gain from last month.
The ranges and changes the GBPUSD has the largest rang at 114 pips with a gain of 81 pips. The EURGBP is trading at lows in a more balanced market (up and down). The USDCAD is higher by 49 pips and has spent most of the trading range above the closing level from yesterday. The BOC Macklem said yesterday that the C$ strength was an issue that the central bank is watching closely.
In other markets:
- Spot gold is trading up $4.50 or +0.25% at $1858.17.
- Spot silver is up $0.57 or 2.36% at $25.07
- WTI crude oil futures are up $0.02 and $47.64
- Bitcoin on coin base is trading up $378.31 to $19,810. That is close to the all-time high price of $19,915.14
IN the premarket for US stocks, the futures are implying a higher opening:
- Dow, +62 points
- NASDAQ index +17 points
- S&P index, plus a .1 points
In the European equity markets, the major indices are also trading higher as PMI data came out better than expectations:
- UK FTSE 100 -0.74%
- German DAX, +1.49%
- France's CAC, +0.32%
- Spain's Ibex, +0.12%
- Italy's FTSE MIB, +0.7%
In the US debt market, yields are trading higher with the yield curve steepening a bit. The 10 year yield is up 1.3 basis points. The 30 year yield is up 2.0 basis points. The 2 – 10 year spread is backup to 80 basis points from around 79.5 basis points at the close yesterday.
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are all higher as well, with the biggest gains seen in France and Germany:
