The USD is sitting in the middle of the table at the start of the session

The GBP is the strongest. and the JPY is the weakest currency of the majors as North American traders enter for the day. The GBP continues to be supported by hope of a Brexit deal. The USD is in the middle of the table with mixed gains and losses.

What we also know from the price action is that the volatility is a bit light. Looking at the charts below, the ranges (lower chart) shows the major pairs are all well below their 22 day average (about a month of trading. The biggest range is 50 pips for the GBPUSD. The rest of the majors have low to high ranges of less than 43 pips. The cross currency pairs are also limited in activity. The GBPJPY has one of the largest ranges but is sill contained vs. its historical average and now off the highs (although high were just made in the last hour on Brexit optimism).

In other markets a snapshot shows:

  • Spot gold 1186.80, down -$3.00
  • WTI crude is down -$0.14 at $74.96. Hurricane Michael is up to cat 4 storm before landfall on the Florida pan handle. It is not having a great impact on WTI however.
  • Bitcoin is down -$80 at $6497

US yields are higher in early trading after the fall yesterday.

European 10 year yields are little changed on the day.

Pre-market US shares are mixed

  • Dow imply 10 gain
  • S&P imply -2.5 point loss
  • Nasdaq imply -33 point fall