ForexLive European FX news wrap: Markets quiet, tentative as the weekend draws closer | Forexlive

Headlines:

Markets:

• EUR and GBP lead on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
• US 10-year yields up 3.2 bps to 4.423%
• Gold down 0.5% to $3,353.09
• WTI crude up 0.2% to $73.99
• Bitcoin up 1.5% to $105,935

It was a relatively quiet and muted session as markets are pretty much waiting on developments in the Middle East. Amid the lack of any meaningful headlines, it’s a case of “can the weekend just come already?”.

The key thing to watch now is whether the US will get involved in the conflict between Iran and Israel. And that’s the only thing left that is keeping markets on edge before we get a breather over the next two days.

Major currencies had absolutely no appetite whatsoever with the dollar keeping little changed in general. EUR/USD is up 0.2% to 1.1516 but is caught between large option expiries between 1.1500 and 1.1525 on the day. Meanwhile, GBP/USD is up 0.2% to 1.3492 in recovering back the earlier drop to 1.3465 after a poor UK retail sales report.

Besides that, the dollar is flattish elsewhere across the board with USD/JPY looking to quietly hold a firm break above 145.00 with the pair up at 145.47 on the day.

In other markets, European stocks are looking to cut some losses from the week at least. Regional indices are up roughly 0.7% to 1.1% but that follows from three straight days of losses coming into today. The overall risk mood remains more tentative though with S&P 500 futures down just 0.1%.

All eyes are on the Middle East to see whether or not we will get any confirmation of US involvement before the weekend.