US recap: Euro rises versus peers after data, ECB comments

The euro rose as expectations for European Central Bank rate cuts were scaled back following a stronger-than-expected Q3 growth reading for the euro zone and rise in German inflation.

French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said the European Central Bank should retain its focus on getting inflation to 2% in the medium-term, while ECB board member Isabel Schnabel argued for gradual rates cuts. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said “price stability is not far off.”

The greenback was mostly lower as long-term Treasury yields eased after a Treasury refunding announcement and a batch of U.S. data including Q3 GDP.

The U.S. economy grew at a softer-than-expected annualized rate of 2.8% in the third quarter though ADP data showed U.S. private payrolls surged 233,000 in October and pending home sales jumped the most in more than four years in September.

The pound fell after Britain’s finance minister Rachel Reeves, in her first budget, announced the biggest tax increases in three decades and a new fiscal target to have government debt falling.

China has told its automakers to halt big investment in European countries that support extra tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles, two people briefed about the matter said.

Oil rose 1.8% after a report that OPEC+ could delay a planned hike in oil production scheduled to take effect in December by a month or more.

Treasury yields were mixed as the curve flattened. The 2s-10s spread fell about 5 basis points to +10.5bps.

The S&P 500 was little changed with gains in financials offset by weaker tech shares.

Gold rose 0.49% and touched a new record high amid safe-haven demand for the metal.

Copper fell 0.13% in a largely range bound trading.

Heading toward the close: EUR/USD +0.48%, USD/JPY -0.11%, GBP/USD -0.25%, AUD/USD +0.32%, DXY -0.32%, EUR/JPY +0.37%, GBP/JPY -0.37%, AUD/JPY +0.21%.

(Editing by Terence Gabriel
Reporting by Robert Fullem)

((robert.fullem@thomsonreuters.com;))