The dollar is down to start European trading as bond yields retreat from the highs as we look towards the end of the week. 10-year Treasury yields are down 4.6 bps to 4.550% now but the drop is even more stark in Europe with 10-year German bund yields down some 9.4 bps to 2.873% currently.
The softer French inflation report here may be stoking some of the flames but keep in mind that month-end and quarter-end flows are also perhaps at play. And so, the best we can do is to continue to rely on the technicals to guide us through the mud for the time being. In that lieu, we are seeing EUR/USD push up to 1.0600:
EUR/USD hourly chart
The pair is up over 0.3% on the day and has pushed past its 100-hour moving average (red line). That sees the near-term bias now turn more neutral. For today though, there are large option expiries at the figure level that could keep price action more sticky around the figure level as noted here.
Adding to that will be some near-term resistance from the 200-hour moving average (blue line), seen at 1.0616 currently.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD is also up 0.4% to 1.2240 levels and observing a similar pattern to EUR/USD as per the above. And we are seeing USD/JPY dip back below 149.00 to 148.65 currently – down 0.4% on the day.
The antipodeans are the biggest gainers though as a more improved risk mood is also helping. AUD/USD is up 0.9% to 0.6480 but still faces stern resistance at the 0.6500 mark for now.
Read More: Dollar slumps as yields retreat towards the end of the week