What you need to know on Wednesday, January 19:
The American dollar is the overall winner, up against all of its major rivals. US Treasury yields soared to levels last seen in February 2022, with the yield on the 10-year note reaching 1.856% and that on the 2-year note surpassing 1%. Stocks edged lower, with global indexes ending the day in the red.
The EUR/USD pair is currently trading at around 1.1420, despite an encouraging German ZEW survey, showing a sharp bounce in Economic Sentiment.
The GBP/USD pair broke below 1.3600, ignoring UK employment figures. The unemployment rate eased to 4.1% in the three months to November, while the unemployment claimant fell by 43.3K in December. Meanwhile, the scandal about the Downing Street parties in the worst of the UK lockdowns puts PM Boris Johnson leadership at risk.
At the beginning of the day, the Bank of Japan announced its decision on monetary policy. As widely anticipated, the central bank remained on hold, although policymakers revised to the downside their growth forecasts for this fiscal year. The USD/JPY pair peaked at 115.05, but trimmed gains ahead of the close and ended the day unchanged at around 114.50.
AUD/USD fell to 0.7170, bouncing modestly ahead of the close. Weaker gold prices put additional pressure on the pair, as the bright metal settled around $1,814 a troy ounce.
The USD/CAD pair posted a modest intraday advance, as higher oil prices limited CAD’s weakness. WTI trades at $84.50 a barrel after reaching its highest since October 2014.
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