Headlines:
Markets:
- NZD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities slightly higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields down 7.6 bps to 3.477%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,914.21
- WTI crude up 1.9% to $81.70
- Bitcoin down 0.3% to $21,260
What started off as a smackdown from the BOJ ended up being a session of retracement as the Japanese yen gave back a chunk of its gains from earlier today.
In particular, USD/JPY is the pair where the yen is putting on a strong comeback as it comes amid a wave of selling in the dollar in European morning trade. I can only point to lower bond yields being the trigger as the greenback suffered the minute traders in Europe got to their desks.
The high for USD/JPY came at 131.50 levels in Asia before falling in every hour since to sit closer to 129.00 now as the BOJ message was also undermined by Japan trade minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura. The softer dollar also did not help of course.
Elsewhere, EUR/USD moved up from 1.0790 to 1.0870 before keeping around 1.0830 now and GBP/USD rose from 1.2280 to 1.2380 and is holding at the highs currently.
The overall risk mood is cautiously optimistic as equities are a touch higher but awaiting key data from the US later today. The antipodeans are also up as a result with AUD/USD nudging back above 0.7000 to its highest levels since August and NZD/USD knocking on the door of 0.6500 once again – as it did back in December.
