Themes

• General mood is “risk off”
• Markets pause ahead of tonight’s U.S. CPI numbers
• Concern also reemerges on Omicron

What’s Moving

Risk has again moved off, although largely tight ranges were seen across all major currency pairs overnight. The initial concern was ahead of tonight’s U.S. CPI numbers, while later in the day the continued spread of the Omicron virus also dampened the enthusiasm of bulls.

U.S. Initial Claims printed better than expected at 184k from talk of 218k, but this was largely shrugged off.

Oil prices caught a bid in Asia and largely held onto gains in overnight trading.

Thoughts

Expect another quiet day in Asia today after a quiet overnight session and ahead of U.S. CPI numbers tonight. U.S. is currently expected to come in at +0.7%.

There is little data slated in Asia today, with the flagship being Japanese PPI numbers, which are expected to come in at 8.6%.

Tonight sees a goodly amount of U.K. data, along with German CPI, the U.S. CPI and the U.S. Michigan Sentiment Index.

Pivot Points