• Trouble begins to brew for stocks again
• Treasury yields feel heavy towards the end of the week
• Bond bulls make a bit of a stand for now
• USD/JPY eyes back-to-back down days as upside momentum stalls
• UK July retail sales -1.2% vs -0.5% m/m expected
• Eurozone July final CPI +5.3% vs +5.3% y/y prelim

Markets:

• JPY leads, GBP lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.5%
• US 10-year yields down 5.7 bps to 4.223%
• Gold up 0.2% to $1,892.90
• WTI crude down 0.5% to $79.98
• Bitcoin down 4.2% to $26,479

It all started with bonds being more bid as the bulls are making a bit of a stand since yesterday. 10-year yields in the US clipped 4.30% then and tested the high from October last year but are seen falling back all the way to 4.22% currently.

That did not trigger much significant moves in markets early on but things are now picking up as we move towards US trading.

Once again, stocks just can’t get off the floor as sentiment worsened akin to a more risk-off wave. US futures were dragged lower with tech shares leading the downside while European indices are now pushing 1% losses across the board.

USD/JPY was softer earlier on but stuck around 145.30-40 levels for the most part during the session, even with the developments in the bond market and equities.

But the dollar itself is finding a light bid now amid the softer risk tones, though it is just holding a light advance against the pound, franc, and aussie mostly. Speaking of the pound, UK retail sales data disappointed once again and that is a bit trigger for offers as well during the session. GBP/USD is down 0.3% to 1.2705 currently.

It’s now over to Wall Street to make do with the negative sentiment in markets. The theme as of late tends to be late selling in risk, but what will traders and investors do now when risk is already turning ugly ahead of the open for once?

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.