EUR/USD sits at 1.2575, effectively unchanged on the day. But inbetween the single currency came under sustained selling pressure at one stage, weighed down by a succession of very poor economic data releases (see above)

Decent-sized barrier option interest was rumoured at 1.2500 and defensive buying in the 1.2500/20 area proved robust and we bounced back quickly from the lows.

USD/JPY fractionally easier at 79.38 from early 79.50. Talk of barrier option interest lined up down at 79.00. There has also been talk (rumour) of yen cross sell interest lined up for this afternoon’s London fix (16:00 BST/15:00 GMT)