Market Brief, North America

The dollar is pushing higher, Treasury yields are steadying, and equity futures are advancing as the French government moves closer to collapse and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell prepares to deliver potentially market-moving remarks later this morning. The Korean won plunged yesterday when President Soon Suk Yeol shocked citizens by declaring martial law for the first time in 40 years, deploying the military on South Korean streets. The apparent autogolpe* attempt was quickly undone by lawmakers in an emergency vote – and the currency is now almost fully recovered – but markets have grown more uncertain about the future of...

The dollar is trading with a softer bias this morning after Federal Reserve Governor Waller suggested that he would support cutting rates at the central bank’s next meeting, helping put pressure on the front end of the US yield curve. The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso are inching higher as traders double down on bets that Donald Trump’s recent tariff threats will come to naught, the Japanese yen is climbing on a narrowing in rate differentials, and the pound is trying to build the momentum to break back into the high 1.20’s against the greenback. “At present, I lean toward...