investingLive European markets wrap: Dollar steady ahead of ADP, precious metals cool off

Headlines:

Markets:

• USD mixed, overall FX little changed
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
• US 10-year yields down 3.7 bps to 4.141%
• Gold down 1.1% to $4,447.09
• WTI crude flat at $57.01
• Bitcoin down 1.4% to $91,948

There wasn’t too much in the headlines in European trading today. The handover from Asia saw a higher Australian dollar after the softer but stickier inflation data, reaffirming the potential for a rate hike by the RBA in February. However, those gains fizzled out during the session with AUD/USD dropping off from 0.6760 to 0.6730 levels currently to stay flattish on the day.

We also got the Eurozone inflation data for December and that continues to reaffirm the ECB’s position to keep on the sidelines for the most part. So, there’s nothing new on that front.

Instead, the most notable action is a bit of a breather in the hot start to the year for precious metals. Gold is down over 1% to $4,447 while silver is down over 3% to $78.55 on the day as the bulls hit pause.

This as the risk rally also starts to flatten out a bit with US futures and European indices posting slight losses on the day. The market attention now slowly shifts to US labour market data, with the main event of the week being the non-farm payrolls release on Friday.

In FX, major currencies weren’t up to much with the dollar holding in a smaller range and trading little changed across the board. The aussie was the only notable mover early on but as mentioned above, things just fizzled out after.

Besides that, there is still some eyes on geopolitical risks with Trump taking aim at Greenland next. So, that will be something to be mindful about in the weeks to come.

Otherwise, it’s on to the ADP roulette next.