Daily Market Commentary 24th October 2023

A quiet start to the trading week, with little on the economic data front, as markets await PMI data from Asia, Europe and the USA. The last trading week was chaos, with the US 10-year bond breaking above the key 5% mark, while war in the Middle East and Europe provided deep uncertainty for markets. Rising energy prices once again promise resurgent inflation and higher interest rates. Prospects are not good and equities felt the pain. Share markets have opened much more settled, for the new week’s trade and the US dollar has softened. The EUR jumped back to 1.0660, ahead of the ECB meeting later in the week, while the GBP broke back above 1.2200.

The softer reserve allowed commodity currencies to regain some lost ground, with the AUD consolidating above 0.6300, while the NZD looks to regain 0.5850. Markets will look at global PMI data and the ECB meeting. Local markets will be very interested in the Australian inflation number, to be released on Wednesday.