Fed's Powell Divulges Few New Details

Powell revealed relatively little at his post-FOMC decision press conference, with markets relatively unmoved following the release. This month's meeting was always regarded as a placeholder for December, with the only newsworthy item being the change in release timings for the Summary of Economic Projections, which now come alongside the FOMC statement instead of being part of the minutes release.

In currencies, the USD fell further, narrowing the gap with the late October low for the USD index. USD implied vols remain in freefall, with with AUD/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF 3m vols all hitting the lowest since July. The drop in EUR/USD 3m Butterfly also reflects somewhat calmer outlook for USD -despite the contract capturing December's ECB meeting where they'll likely 'recalibrate' policy (ECB on Dec12th, FOMC on Dec16th).

USD was the weakest, NOK, AUD and NZD the strongest in G10.

Focus Friday turns to the October Nonfarm Payrolls release. The US are expected to have added 585k jobs across the month, dragging the unemployment rate lower by a further 0.3 ppts. The RBA monetary policy statement, the Canadian jobs and further US election updates are also on the docket.