The yen and New Zealand dollar are weak but the overall profile of the forex market has changed very little over the past 24 hours. Traders continue to digest U.S. tax proposals and the bond market continues to second-guess the wisdom of lowering taxes and extending benefits while facing record deficits.

Nerves in the bond market were calmed somewhat by a decent auction for 10-year U.S. government notes. The Treasury department sold $21 billion in notes at 3.34% with an average bid-to-cover ratio. This was nearly inline with market expectations and buried speculation about a buyers strike.

The dollar gave up some of its gains following the auction and that allowed commodities and ‚risk‘ trades to make some minor headway.

There are rumors that China could hike interest rates after it moved up the release of several key economic data points. The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics will release its key economic indicators on Saturday, instead of the planned Monday release.

The bureau said it changed the date to keep the time of the release consistent with previous months but market participants feel like it has been done to give them more time to digest the data. A similar scenario unfolded in September but the central bank did not follow up with an interest rate hike. They did hike rates on Oct. 19 after inflation rose to 4.4% compared to the 4.0% economists were expecting. In Saturday’s data, the CPI is expected to rise further to 4.7% and future rate hikes are certain (but the timing remains a mystery).

The government said on Friday it will shift its monetary policy stance to „prudent“ next year from „moderately loose“ now. An article in the China Securities Journal cited analysts saying the central bank may take action on the weekend. Chinese rate hikes generally result in risk aversion and a drop in commodity prices. The Australian dollar often bears the brunt of rate changes while CAD and NZD also decline. Content provided by AroundFX.com.

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