Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: USD/JPY rallies for a second day, AUD struggles after RBA

• US Q3 unit labor costs +0.8% vs +1.5% expected
• US November NFIB small business optimism index 101.7 vs 94.2 expected
• The US treasury auctions off $58B of 3-year notes at a high yield of 4.117%
• EIA forecasts global oil production will rise 1.6m bpd in 2025
• Xi says China will continue to be the biggest enging of world economic growth
• Preview: What to expect from Wednesday’s US CPI report
• Bank of Canada preview: The storm clouds are gathering in the Canadian economy
• ECB’s Villeroy: Regardless of political situation, France needs to improve public finances

Markets:

• Gold up $33 to $2692
• WTI crude oil flat at $68.38
• US 10-year yields up 3 bps to 4.23%
• S&P 500 down 18 points to 6034
• GBP leads, NZD lags

The US dollar strengthened to the best levels of the day early in North American trade on Tuesday but softened in the back half of the day. Neither move had a particularly strong fundamental backing and the turnaround came after Europe went offline. It also coincided with a deterioration in equities, which runs counter to the usual EUR/USD and GBP/USD correlations.

The Australian dollar neared the lowest levels of the year after the RBA highlighted a shift to a more-dovish stance in its statement earlier. That was compounded by worries about Chinese growth and stimulus this week that could fall short of the optimistic talk from Chinese officials.

USD/JPY rallied for the second day as Treasury yields ticked higher. A 3-year note sale had a yield that was slightly below what the market was pricing and that halted the rise in yields and USD/JPY.

Gold was a standout performer once again as it gets a tailwind from China returning to bouillon purchases in data published on the weekend.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.