Market Brief, North America

Good morning and happy Monday. Four major forces are acting on currency markets ahead of the North American open: Last week’s flight to safety is losing momentum as world leaders make a concerted push to minimize spillover risks ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. Both major oil benchmarks are giving back some of Friday’s gains, Treasury yields are renewing their push higher and equity futures are pointing to a softer open after US president Joe Biden said he supported efforts to eliminate the terrorists who attacked Israel, while noting that “Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas...

Happy Friday. We see four key factors driving currency markets this morning: Safe haven assets are catching a bid as the conflict in the Middle East worsens, threatening to involve other regional powers. With Israel preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza and refugee flows into other counties set to increase, fears of wider disruption – which could lead to tighter sanctions on Iranian crude and ultimately slow flows through the Strait of Hormuz – are growing. Equity futures are pointing to a softer open, the euro and pound are sliding against the yen, Swiss franc, and dollar, and oil-linked...