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European open: Non-Non-Farm Payroll Friday Friday

FXstreet.com (London) - With non-essential government workers furloughed, statisticians are out of action, meaning no US Non-farms jobs data today.

It’s a quiet day in Europe too, with no top-tier data releases.

Instead, it will be politics that will continue to dominate, with the stories that started the week continuing to dominate. In Italy, a Senate committee is holding a hearing on the possible expulsion of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, following his conviction for tax fraud. On Wednesday Berlusconi was forced into a humiliating U-turn when he had no option but to back Prime Minister Enrico Letta in a confidence vote that he himself had triggered. But, though the hearing should make for interesting political drama on a slow macro news day, now that the risks of a fall of the Italian government have dissipated, so too has the market importance of the Italian political showdown.
Italian 5-year bond yields have fallen to 1.04 percent to 3.248
In the US, the debt ceiling stand-off continues to rumble along. Despite early bullishness in the face of a government shut-down, risk aversion has begun to weigh, with equity markets falling. Dallas Fed President Fisher spoke in Dallas last night and stated that “economic policy uncertainty” was a great hindrance to economic growth. Some predict that a protracted shutdown could drag fourth quarter GDP by 0.5 percent.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9 percent to 1,678.66.

EUR/USD continues to struggle to find direction, trading flat at USD1.3623.

Yen made some gains overnight following the Bank of Japan’s decision to hold monetary policy. USD/JPY is trading at JPY97.0850, down 0.17 percent.

Commodities move on opposite sides, DXY at an 8-month low

US oil settles lower on Friday, despite the American dollar’s weakening across the board and the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico jitters, while the gold is steadily rising.
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