Forex headlines for March 10, 2014
- BOE’s Bean: If sterling appreciates, would keep policy lower for longer
- BOE’s Bean says further strengthening in the pound would not be particularly helpful
- Iron ore prices fall 8%
- Fed’s Evans: Expects 2014 growth 2.5% to 3.0%
- Fed’s Evans says new forward guidance ought to capture ‘general improvement’ in labor market indicators
- IMF’s Olivier Blanchard says there’s a definite deflation risk in Europe
- Lautenschlaeger says ECB has room to act, could cut deposit rate into negative territory – WSJ
- Fed’s Plosser says US economy to grow around 3.0% in 2014
- Cyprus central bank governor resigns, Georghadji to take over
- German economic research institute calls on ECB for €60bn per month QE
- ECB to reveal how bad loans will be defined on Tuesday – Reuters
- UK trade data delayed for quality checks
- February US Conference board employment trends index 116.39 vs 115.99 prior
- S&P 500 down 1 point to 1877
- Gold flat at $1339
- WTI crude down $1.58 to $101.00
- JPY leads, AUD lags
The pound and Australian dollars slumped on Monday but most of the action came before US traders arrived.
The story was straightforward for the Australian dollar as the currency slumped as low as 0.9014 on weak Chinese trade data and the slump in iron ore prices. Support at the 50% retracement of last week’s rally and the big figure has held so far but the bounce has been minimal. Keep an eye on Chinese stocks after yesterday’s 2.6% drop. Last at 0.9020.
The pound was a more complicated story as flows dominated, especially those related to Vodaphone. EUR/GBP buying knocked cable down to 1.6622 from 1.6732 at the start of European trading. Option strikes weighed as well along with selling in GBP/JPY. The bottom came just before the London close but the bounce has been minimal. Last at 1.6643.
USD/JPY struggled to find a reason for action ahead of today’s BOJ decision. Softness in stocks caused some selling down to 103.15 but it was hardly the kind of thing to get pulses racing as the session high was 103.41. Stocks later rebounded and the pair closed out the day at 103.27.
The Canadian dollar stayed out of the spotlight for a change. Canadian housing starts were are 192K compared to 190K expected but that hardly caused a blip. The high of 1.1131 came in Europe and the US range was a mere 20 pips. Last at 1.1103.
