Market Brief, North America

The dollar is holding steady and measures of expected currency volatility are ratcheting higher as global investors go to ground ahead of today’s US non-farm payrolls report and next week’s presidential election. Ten-year Treasury yields are edging closer to the 4.30-percent threshold after softening briefly earlier in the week, North American equity markets are setting up for a defensive move after a series of mixed earnings reports from the likes of Microsoft and Meta, and oil prices are pushing higher on reports of a potential Iranian escalation in its ongoing tit-for-tat cycle with Israel. Forecasts for job creation in this...

Financial markets are in calm-before-the-storm mode ahead of a raft of economic data releases that are expected to show the US economy outperforming its advanced-economy peers, and before Americans head to the polls to choose the next president. The dollar is holding recent gains, Treasury yields are down slightly, equity futures are little changed, and oil prices are steadying after yesterday’s steep descent. The pound is trading sideways ahead of tomorrow’s Autumn Budget, and deteriorating cross-Atlantic rate differentials are keeping pressure on the euro. The Canadian dollar remains firmly on the defensive, pressured by weak domestic fundamentals, widening yield spreads,...