Summary:

• US dollar continues its uptrend ahead of the GDP release later in the day
• Commodities take a step back as the USD grinds higher
• Stocks on the rise across the board, the Spanish IBEX (SPA35 on xStation5) lags behind though

Moves which began on Thursday have been continuing until then. As a result, the US dollar divides and conquer across the G10 basket pushing the USDCHF above the parity for the first time since May. At the time of writing solely the New Zealand dollar is resisting USD’s strength while GBP, SEK and CHF are among the worst currencies. Even as the US dollar is gaining a foothold it’s also nearing the key release of the US GDP for the third quarter, the preliminary one so its importance should be high.

Looking at the commodity block one could notice that falls are widespread. Iron ore is losing 2.3%, copper is sliding 1.75% while oil prices are trading subtly below the breakeven line. Let us recall that oil has been on the rise as of late, however this week’s developments seem to be equivocal in terms of the commodity’s future. On the one hand, the regional Kurdish authorities declared on Wednesday to “freeze” the independence referendum’s outcome in order to defuse tensions between Kurdistan and the government in Baghdad. On the other one, we got quite an upbeat DoE report on Wednesday which revealed that the last slump in the US oil output was just a one-off event sparked by the hurricane Nate which hit the Gulf of Mexico.

The ECB meeting is already done and one may conclude that Draghi did his job as he was able to take the single currency down. At the same time the German stock market got a boost after markets reconsidered the ECB materials once again suggesting that expansionary policy was basically left in place (QE is going to persist, the proceeds from maturing bonds are to be reinvested while a deposit rate is still anchored below zero). As for now all major indices in Europe are gaining approximately 0.7%, though the UK100 is rising just 0.2% while the Spanish SPA35 is slumping almost 1% after separatists have pushed Carles Puigdemont to the wall demanding to continue independence push.

Over the course of the past hours the Bitcoin price failed to break a local resistance line which resulted in a retreat towards a pivotal support area. Bitcoin’s appeal could have been undermined following some remarks voiced by the iconic investor Warren Buffet who didn’t beat around the bush that he was not a Bitcoin supporter. He called Bitcoin ’a real bubble’ which cannot be valued because it’s not a value-producing asset.

Friday is all about the US GDP preliminary release for the third quarter. It’ll be the first print, hence its impact on the US dollar ought to be significant. On top of that, several speeches of central bankers are scheduled as well.