Forex Today: Eyes on UK politics, global PMIs in another volatile start to the week
|Here is what you need to know on Monday, October 3:
Markets stayed relatively quiet during the Asian trading hours on Monday but volatility picked up in the early European morning. Political developments in the UK are watched closely by market participants ahead of S&P Global's final September PMIs for Germany, the euro area, the UK and Canada. The US economic docket will feature the ISM September Manufacturing PMI later in the day. Several FOMC policymakers, including Kansas City Fed President Esther George and New York Fed President John Williams, will also be delivering speeches in the second half of the day.
After having registered modest gains on Friday, the US Dollar Index turned south and broke below 112.00. US Stock index futures are trading mixed in the European session and the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield loses over 1% below 3.8%.
During the Asian trading hours, the data from Japan showed that the Tankan Large Manufacturing Index declined to 8 in Q3, missing the market expectation of 11. On a positive note, the Non-Manufacturing Index edged higher to 14 in the same period from 13. Meanwhile, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki reiterated that they continue to watch FX moves with a strong sense of urgency. USD/JPY showed no reaction to Suzuki's comments or the data releases and it was last seen moving sideways slightly below 145.00.
GBP/USD gathered bullish momentum and jumped to its highest level in over a week near 1.1300. Reports suggesting that the UK government is expected to roll back the proposed scrapping of the higher rate of income tax helped the British pound gather strength. British Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng confirmed these reports by announcing that the government will not go ahead with a plan to scrap a 45% rate of income tax. Following the initial bullish reaction, the pair returned to the 1.1200 area, where it was up around 0.3% on the day.
EUR/USD is having a difficult time making a decisive move in either direction and trading in a narrow range near 0.9800.
Gold snapped a two-week losing streak on Friday and edged higher toward $1,670 early Monday. Although XAU/USD returned to the $1,660 area in the European morning, it managed to hold its ground amid retreating US Treasury bond yields.
Bitcoin closed in negative territory on Saturday and Sunday but found support near $19,000. Ethereum fell nearly 4% over the weekend and dropped below $1,300 before staging a rebound early Monday. ETH/USD was last seen rising 1% on the day at $1,290.
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