Forex trading headlines from the European morning session 19 May
- BUBA’s Weidmann says ECB will closely monitor FX moves when weighing policy decisions
- Economic growth to slow in Q2 says Bundesbank
- Pfizer increases its offer to take over Astrazeneca
- Astrazeneca rejects Pfizer’s latest offer
- ECB, SNB and Riksbank announce new gold agreement
- Japan’s Nishimura wants to cut effective corporation tax rate from FY2015/16
- EU’s energy commissioner says some progress made on Russia-Ukraine gas dispute
- Spanish bad loans fall in March
- ECB’s Coeure says Financial integration needs new legislation
- You can lose your ass on Bitcoins says ECB’s Mersch
- UK to launch new independent banking standards body this year
Data:
- March Eurozone construction output -0.6% m/m
- Nikkei closes down 0.64% at 14,006.44
- Shanghai Composite Index closes down 1.04% at 2005.38
It’s been a cagey start to the new week with most pairs flattering to deceive pinned in tight ranges but the yen has picked up a bit of strength from better data o/n and falling Nikkei.
USDJPY wandered off to 101.38 from 101.45 at the close but then saw further downward pressure as the futures market traded lower with 101.25 providing some support but finally broken as the rally failed to impress beyond 101.40 and we’ve since been down to 101.11. Similar story on yen pairs with early rallies running into sellers.
GBPUSD had a look above 1.6830 but didn’t like it and retreated to o/n lows around 1.6806 on Astrazenca’s rejection of Pfizer’s latest/final offer which also saw the FTSE drop sharply. Since then th0ugh we’ve seen a move back above 1.6820 but all painfully slow.
EURUSD posted highs of 1.3723 from 1.3710 as the BUBA head retiterated that euro weakness is a double-edged sword but the strong resistance/offers at 1.373o held again.
AUD, CAD and NZD have seen little movement in the core pairs but have had some cross play interest in line with the general mood of the morning.
No data here or across the pond to shake things up so we can expect more of the same in the hours ahead.
