Dollar firm as US Treasury yields extend rally

This is what you need to know to trade today Monday, October 18:

The greenback is gathering steam in the early hours of the European session on Monday as investors stay focused on the US Treasury yields in the absence of important fundamental factors and high-level data releases. Industrial production data for September will appear on the US economic calendar in the second half of the day, but the market sentiment coupled with the performance of US Treasury yields is likely to continue to weigh on the USD’s valuation.

Earlier in the day, data from China revealed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) it expanded 0.2% quarterly in the third quarter after growing 1.3% in the second quarter. This reading did not meet the market expectation of 0.5% and caused risk sentiment to sour during Asian trading hours.

Futures for US stocks have fallen between 0.1% and 0.3%, suggesting that it is likely that the major Wall Street indices open not far from Friday’s closing level. On a weekly basis, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield has risen nearly 2% to 1,605%.

The oro It suffered heavy losses in the second half of the previous week as the precious metal remains extremely sensitive to movements in US bond yields. XAU / USD is moving sideways in a relatively tight range around $ 1770, but the pair could feel renewed downward pressure as trading volume increases with European and US traders entering the market.

The attempt to recover EUR/USD it failed to convince investors that the crossing was about to reverse its direction. The moderate prospects of the European Central Bank remain intact and make it difficult for the common currency to find demand. On Monday, the pair is trading in the negative territory below 1.1600.

USD/JPY remains relatively calm after posting its strongest weekly close since March 2017 at 114.20. Rising US bond yields continue to fuel the pair’s rise.

GBP/USD managed to close the second consecutive week in positive territory and appears to have entered a consolidation phase above 1.3700. The Bank of England’s political outlook and renewed Brexit optimism help the British pound remain resilient against the dollar.

Despite rising copper prices, the pair AUD/USD it fell on Monday under pressure from disappointing Chinese growth data.

cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin continues to trade above $ 60,000 as crypto investors wait for the first Bitcoin ETF debut in the United States either on Monday or Tuesday. The Ethereum stays at a distance of just $ 4,000 and the Ripple it is fluctuating around $ 1.1.