investingLive European markets wrap: Gold continues to soar; dollar tepid, stocks up

Headlines:

• Gold continues to sizzle to start the new week
• EUR/USD pulls back into a key trendline: has the US dollar already run out of energy?
• US futures continue to shrug off government shutdown concerns
• Fed’s Hammack: It is a challenging time for monetary policy
• ECB’s Makhlouf: We are near the bottom of the easing cycle
• BOJ’s Noguchi: Monetary policy entering a phase where careful assessment is needed
• Spain September preliminary CPI +2.9% vs +3.0% y/y expected
• Eurozone September final consumer confidence -14.9 vs -14.9 prelim
• China’s Communist Party set to hold its Fourth Plenum on 20-23 October
• Japan reaffirms that economy is recovering at a moderate pace in latest monthly report

Markets:

• JPY leads, CHF lags on the day
• European equities slightly higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
• US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 4.152%
• Gold up 1.8% to $3,827.05
• WTI crude down 1.0% to $64.51
• Bitcoin flat at $112,130

There weren’t much notable headlines to kick start the new week, as markets are gearing towards some really big events on the calendar in the days ahead.

With a potential US government shutdown and non-farm payrolls data (possible to be delayed) looming large, there will be bigger fish to fry later this week. For now though, market players don’t seem all too concerned with perhaps month-end and quarter-end flows in focus as well.

The dollar is slightly weaker on the day but off the lows at least. EUR/USD is up just 0.1% to 1.1713 while USD/JPY is down 0.5% to 148.70 amid a drop in bond yields, while keeping the rejection near 150.00 from last week. Major currencies are not up to much in general, awaiting more key developments during the week.

In the equities space, stocks are holding up well as count down September trading. US futures are up, carrying over the gains from Friday as investors are brushing aside any possible concerns of a US government shutdown. Meanwhile, European indices are holding slight gains but nothing to really shout about on the day.

Once more, the standout mover is in the commodities space as we see precious metals soar higher yet again. Gold is up nearly 2% on the day in blowing past the $3,800 mark while silver is up over 2% in testing waters above $47 as buyers start to take aim at the 2011 highs. Up, up, and away!

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.