The GBP is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest as the NA session begins
As the North American session begins, the GBP is the strongest and the JPY is the weakest. The USD is mixed/weak as traders await one final dump of data until the holiday cheer starts to be felt in the markets. The stock and bond markets will be closed tomorrow in observance of the Christmas holiday.
The bubbly won’t be uncorked until after the data dump today which includes Canada GDP, US PCE data, Durable Goods orders, Personal income and spending and jobless claims. The most important release will be the core PCE which is expected to come in at 4.5% vs 4.1% last month while the headline is expected to rise to 5.6% from 5.1% last month.
In other markets as North American traders enter for the day shows:
- Spot gold is up $2.50 or 0.15% at $1805.16
- Spot silver is unchanged at $22.79
- WTI crude oil is trading up $0.21 and $72.97
- Bitcoin is trading at $48,709 as it remains steady but below the $50,000 level
In the premarket for US stocks, the futures are implying that the major indices will open higher. The major indices are on a two day win streak after trading down five the previous six trading days. A snapshot of the market shows:
- Dow industrial average up 121 points after yesterday’s 261.19 point rise
- NASDAQ index up 36 points after yesterday’s 180.81 point rise
- S&P index up 15 points after yesterday’s 47.35 point rise
In the European equity markets, the major indices are also following up the rise yesterday with additional gains today:
- German DAX, +0.6%
- France’s CAC, +0.4%
- UK’s FTSE 100 +0.15%
- Spain’s Ibex +1.0%
- Italy’s FTSE MIB +0.2%
In the US debt market, yields are higher by one – two basis points across the curve:
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are also moving sharply higher as fears of omicron start to subside a bit, and inflation concerns increase: