Securities:
Markets:
- GBP leads, USD lags the day
- European equities slightly higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year rates down 2.6 basis points to 3.788%
- Gold up 0.6% to $1,952.39
- WTI crude up 0.9% at $72.48
- Bitcoin down 0.1% to $26,450
It was a quiet session for the most part as there were no headlines in Europe. In terms of data, we saw UK retail sales improve slightly in April, but after a softer revision to March figures.
But today’s story is a retracement of dollar gains as the risk mood holds ahead of the long weekend. Discussions on the US debt ceiling appear to be progressing, helping to see US futures rallying after a somewhat more cautious and hesitant start.
The Dollar followed a decline in European morning trade and continued to do so throughout the session, with the Pound and the Antipodes benefiting the most. GBP/USD is up 0.5% at 1.2380 while AUD/USD is up 0.5% at 0.6538 after testing 0.6500 earlier in the day.
Elsewhere, USD/JPY is down slightly to 139.75 after a rejection at 140.00, with falling bond yields also weighing on the pair. EUR/USD is up 0.2% at 1.0745 and USD/CAD is down 0.2% at 1.3605 on the day.
Now it’s the turn of US PCE price data to see what it has to offer, before markets start heading into the long weekend and then month-end trading next week.
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