Forex trading headlines from the European morning session 7 May
Data:
- German industrial orders March m/m -2.8% vs +0.3% exp
- French industrial output March m/m -0.7% vs +0.2% exp
- French trade balance March sa EUR -4.9 bln vs -3.8 bln prev
- Swiss unemployment rate unadj April 3.2% vs 3.2% exp
- Nikkei closes on session lows down 2.93% at 14,033.45
- US MBA mortgage market index 350.9 vs 333.2 prior
- Shanghai Composite Index closes down 0.88% at 2010.23
News:
- IMF says first bailout tranche can be used to pay the gas bill
- EU hopes to advance trade talks with Japan this year
- EU-Japan trade talks at critical phase says Van Rompuy
- Former BOJ’s Hayakawa sees Japan inflation reaching 2% around end-2015
- China kicking off with Vietnam
After yesterday’s fun and games it’s understandable that we’ve seen a more cautious market today but the kiwi dollar has felt some pain after the RBNZ’s o/n comments.
NZDUSD tried clinging on to 0.8700 after but we were soon down testing Tuesday’s 0.8679 low which did hold for a short rally to 0.8693 but then came another wave and the bids were history. We’ve since tested the next line of support/bids at 0.8650 and now rallied to 0.8673 as I type.
GBPUSD started around 1.6980 but didn’t have any attempt on 1.7000 and we’ve drifted slowly off to 1.6950-55 support before a small rally to 1.6970 so far. EURGBP flirted below 0.8200 for a while again but we’ve seen 0.8212 only to be knocked back as the cable buyers re-appeared.
EURUSD had a knock down to 1.3913 from 1.3927 on weaker industrial production data but since then has found decent support above 1.3920 albeit not getting back beyond 1.3935.
USDJPY had a little run lower to 101.44 from 101.55 as the Nikkei closed on its lows but since then we’ve seen buying in various yen pairs to rally to 101.60 but capped there so far.
AUDUSD found itself caught in some crossplay crossfire with early AUDJPY selling and AUDNZD buying and we’ve seen a tight range therefore of 0.9330-50, while the loonie has also been pausing for breath in a 1.0875-90 range.
I get the feeling that this relative calm will not last for long but with Yellen up to the rostrum later and ECB tomorrow we can expect markets to tread carefully.
