The USD steadied lower at close to 101. Risk appetite improved, amid positive signs in earnings reports. Wall Street finished mixed but near the lows of the day, while US100 managed a modest gain asbetter than expected results from META and robust results from European banks helped to counterbalance lingering jitters at some US banks. Asia stocks all moved higher overnight. GER40 & UK100 are in the red though, as hawkish central bank comments suggest further rate hikes next month. Yields have moved higher overnight.
The curve steepened to -49 bps from -55 bps Tuesday and -60 bps Monday. This is the least inverted since April 5.
- FX – USDIndex at 101 as EUR and GBP rise slightly. But JPY held below 134.
- Stocks – #DeutscheBank up 3.5% pre-market, as reported highest pre-tax profit in a decade on strong inflows. #Barclays +1.58% profit rises 27% on back of rising interest rates. #Meta +11.61% after hours, as it reported its first increase in sales in nearly a year due to continued improvements in its advertising business, as the company continues to pare back spending during what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has called a “year of efficiency.” #AstraZeneca beats forecasts as cancer drugs sales pick up.
- Commodities – USOil drifted, falling under $75 per barrel and now down -3.56% to fresh intraday lows of $74.33. The EIA reported a -5.1 mln barrel drop in oil inventories which boosted prices, but only temporarily. Angst over a recession is building again amid concerns over regional banks and tightening credit conditions. And even though the markets are pricing in the end of Fed rate hikes after next month’s 25 bp hike, upcoming data on Q1 GDP and ECI may not give the FOMC the opportunity to pause, and that is adding to the threat of a slowing/contracting economy. There are also concerns over the strength of China’s recovery. Concurrently, Russian supplies are reportedly hitting the market via Asian ports. Additionally, Bloomberg reported a deterioration in oil-refining profits over the last few weeks, which has companies considering lower processing rates. And one more thing today, the USD is recovering into the afternoon and that is pressuring prices.
- Gold – at $2001.
- Cryptocurrencies – BTC closed unchanged reversing all gains up to $30K. Currently stettled to $28900.
Today – EU Confidence, US GDP & Earnings: Amazon, Intel, Mastercard etc. Biggest FX Mover @ (06:30 GMT) NZDJPY (+0.65%) up to 82.30. MAs aligned higher, MACD histogram & signal line rising, RSI 65, OB 89 but flat.