The USD is the strongest and the AUD is the weakest as the NA session begins | Forexlive

The USD is the strongest and the AUD is the weakest as the North American session begins. The USD is stronger despite a dip in yields today.

The U.S. Senate voted to initiate a debate on a bill aimed at providing short-term government funding to prevent a federal shutdown, but it is expected to face opposition in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives. The Senate’s bill, which includes aid for Ukraine and domestic disaster relief, would fund the government until November 17. Meanwhile, the House is considering conservative-backed spending bills, which are unlikely to gain support in the Senate. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is advocating for a stopgap funding measure.

A government shutdown is imminent if a funding agreement isn’t reached by the Sunday deadline, potentially impacting Wall Street’s confidence in U.S. government credit and raising concerns for ratings agency Moody’s which is the last of the 3 major rating agencies who still have US debt at AAA. Fitch and S&P have downgraded US debt to AA+

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is set to address auto workers in Michigan, aiming to gain support from blue-collar voters for the 2024 presidential election. His visit comes a day after President Biden, a pro-union leader, visited striking auto workers in Michigan, encouraging their walkouts and discussing the benefits of profitable car companies. However, the United Auto Workers union hasn’t endorsed Biden for re-election in 2024. Michigan’s significance in the presidential election is highlighted by these visits, as it played a crucial role in both Biden’s 2020 victory and Trump’s 2016 win.

Good news is the Hollywood writers strike is over. However, the strike by the actors union is still ongoing. There are hopes for a brighter outlook as talks will resume following the conclusion of the writers walkout.

A snapshot of the markets as the NA session gets underway shows:

• Crude oil is trading up $1.56 or 1.73% at $91.94. The rise comes despite the rise in inventories from the private data . released late yesterdayThe inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels in U.S. crude oil stockpiles. The EIA is expected to show a small drawdown of -0.320M. Fundamentally, there are low crude stockpile levels at a significant storage hub in Oklahoma and extended output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia have intensified worries about supply availability.
• Spot gold is trading down $-6.54 or -0.35% at $1893.70.
• Spot silver is trading down $0.05 or -0.25% or $22.76
• Bitcoin is trading at $26,707. That is higher than the level at this same time yesterday at $26,265.

In the US premarket for US stocks, futures are implying that the major indices will open higher after all 3 major indices closed sharply lower yesterday:

• Dow Industrial Average futures are implying a rise of 85.12 points after yesterday’s -388 point decline
• S&P index futures are implying a rise of 14.5 points after yesterday’s minus 63.91.4
• NASDAQ futures are implying a rise of 53 points after yesterday’s -207.71 point decline

In the European equity markets, the major indices trading little changed:

• German DAX, -0.08%
• France’s CAC, +0.03%
• UK’s FTSE 100, -0.13%
• Spain’s Ibex, -0.10%
• Italy’s FTSE MIB, -0.21% (10 minute delay)

In the Asian Pacific today, equity markets closed mostly higher. Australia’s S&P/ASX index close lower

• Japan’s Nikkei 225, +0.18%
• China’s Shanghai Composite, +0.16%
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, +0.83%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, -0.11%

In the US debt market, yields are lower after closing higher yesterday:

• 2-year yield, 5.066%, -1.0 basis points
• 5-year yield, 4.592%, -3.2 basis points
• 10-year yield, 4.509%, -4.9 basis points
• 30-year yield, 4.646%, -5.0 basis points

In the European debt market, benchmark 10-year yields are trading lower: