MTS Help Center

• The dollar was firmer against its major peers on Thursday after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s September meeting affirmed expectations that the central bank is likely to continue raising interest rates this year.

The dollar index .DXY, which measures its value against six major peers, traded at 95.65, up 0.08 percent on Thursday.

U.S. benchmark 10-year treasury yields US10YT=RR climbed to 3.21 percent on Thursday, on increasing rate hike expectations. The last time they traded below the psychologically important 3 percent level was on Sept. 18.

• Market focus is also trained on Rome, where the Italian government is headed for a showdown with Brussels over Italy’s insistence on pushing through a budget deficit target of 2.4 percent of GDP, wider than its previous target of 1.9 percent.

Italy’s draft budget for next year, which boosts welfare spending, cuts the retirement age and hikes deficit spending, could breach European Union’s fiscal rules that require Rome to lower its large public debt.

The euro EUR= changed hands at $1.1497 on Thursday, trading flat versus the greenback, after losing 0.65 percent on Wednesday. The euro has lost 2.73percent versus the dollar over the last three weeks.

• The yen JPY= changed hands at 112.53 to the dollar on Thursday, as the dollar weakened 0.12 percent versus the Japanese currency. The yen weakened to its lowest level in six days earlier, hitting a low of 112.72 on Thursday.

· Sterling is trading down 0.3% at around 1.3070 after the Brexit summit turned out to be a complete disaster. The EU leaders even dropped the plans for the November summit as little progress was made, readying markets for no Brexit deal scenario. UK retail sales are expected to fall by 0.4% in September.

The GBP/USD broke below the confluence support of 1.3103 representing a 100-day moving average and the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement of a move from1.4377 to 1.2662 and it is on the move lower targeting 1.3030 and 1.2970 further down.

· French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday he had canceled his attendance at an investment conference in Riyadh next week, following the disappearance of a Saudi journalist that has led to a worldwide diplomatic dispute.

· The US budget deficit has surged to US$779 billion in the most recent financial year – its highest level in six years as President Donald Trump’s tax cuts caused the government to borrow more heavily to cover its spending.

The US Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit climbed US$113 billion from fiscal 2017. Debt would likely worsen in the coming years with the Trump administration expecting the deficit to top US$1 trillion in 2019, nearly matching the US$1.1 trillion imbalance from 2012.

· Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, head of the League party, was quoted as saying he may consider running for the presidency of the European Commission at the next elections.

The next European elections are due May 23–26.

Salvini, who was visiting Russia, also reiterated that Italy would oppose renewing indefinitely sanctions against Moscow.

· South Korea’s central bank kept its benchmark rate unchanged on Thursday but flagged concerns about mounting household debt and financial stability, boosting expectations that it could raise rates as soon as next month.

The central bank kept its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate KROCRT=ECI at 1.50 percent, as expected by 14 of 21 economists in a Reuters poll.

· Japan’s exports fell in September for the first time since 2016 as shipments to the United States and China declined, likely impeding third quarter economic growth and adding to concerns about the broadening impact of an escalating Sino-U.S. trade war.

In volume terms, exports fell 4.8 percent in the year to September, the first drop in seven months.

Japan’s exports to the United States declined 0.2 percent in the year to September, dragged down by falling shipments of construction and mining machinery, auto parts and medicines.

· Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May is open to the idea of extending the transition period “for a few months”, BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg said on Twitter.

EU leaders have raised the possibility that the post-Brexit transition period, during which Britain would retain EU rules, could be extended by a year as a way to give London more time to agree the EU-UK customs deal it wants to solve the issue of the Irish border.

· British Prime Minister Theresa May left the Brexit talks in Brussels without saying a word to the press.

Briefing reporters ahead of Wednesday’s session, Theresa May said she was optimistic about the chances of achieving a divorce agreement with the EU, including on the thorny issue of the N. Irish border.

Earlier, Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn clashed over Brexit with the prime minister rejecting his claim that her planned long-term relationship with the EU, known as the Chequers plan, was "dead."

Meanwhile, Germany and France are stepping up their preparations for a no-deal Brexit even though both publicly insist an agreement with the UK over the terms of its departure from the EU can still be achieved.

· Oil inched up on Thursday amid ongoing tensions over the death of a prominent Saudi journalist, with prices steadying after a big drop overnight due to a jump in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $69.87 a barrel by 0413 GMT, after falling 3 percent in the previous session to settle below $70 for the first time in a month.

Front-month London Brent crude for December delivery was up 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $80.18, having ended down 1.7 percent.

• Crude Oil WTI Technical Analysis: Black Gold falling below $70.00 a barrel