Forex news from the European morning session 9 Mar

News:

  • BOJ to stay on hold next week - Reuters sources
  • Japans Honda expect BOJ will stay on hold and Abe should postpone next sales tax hike - Reuters
  • China to cut fees to give exports a boost
  • China's SAFE say they haven't introduced new measures to control cross-border capital flows
  • Bank of France cuts Q1 GDP forecast to +0.3% vs +0.4% prev
  • EURUSD would hit parity on Brexit says SocGen
  • UK stats office says CPI data including housing costs should be the favoured method
  • SNB in the frame as EURCHF tests 1.1000
  • Euro's soft tone casts its spell all over the show
  • Option expiries 10am NY cut today 9 March
  • Chinese equities pare some losses into the close 9 March
  • Nikkei 225 closes down -0.84% at 16,642.20
  • Legendary record producer Sir George Martin dies

Data:

  • January 2016 UK industrial production 0.3% vs 0.5% exp m/m
  • Japan machine tool orders Feb flash -22.6% vs -17.6% prev

It's been a session that's seen the euro mostly dumped on its backside with EURJPY a prime mover as attention turns to the ECB amidst plenty of talk that the BOJ aren't easing anytime soon.The one notable exception though has been EURCHF which has the pawmarks of the SNB all over it as it tests 1.1000.

Chinese and Japanese equities had a soggy day but that didn't stop European markets from having a good session and that in turn saw additional pressure on the euro. EURUSD has been down to test 1.0950, EURJPY 123.00 and EURGBP 0.7700 but all have held so far.

The EURGBP selling saw cable jump back up above 1.4200 to post 1.4241 shrugging off some weaker UK data but unable to breach 1.4250 res. EURJPY supply had USDJPY falling to 112.22 before both pairs ran into fresh demand/profit-taking.

EURAUD was on its knees for a lot of the session too and that helped AUDUSD push all the way up through 0.7450 to test strong res/supply into 0.7500 and NZDUSD was happy to go along for the ride too.

EURCHF though never really looked under pressure around 1.0950 and with USDCHF finding demand into 0.9980 we eventually saw both pairs take off to post 1.1000 and 1.0039 respectively. SNB help unconfirmed but the move had all the hallmarks of their work.

USDCAD has been on a downward path to 1.3378 as oil prices firmed again only wiping its feet around 1.3400. The BOC interest rate decision in focus at 15.00 GMT.

So it's all as bit fragile out there still as we wait to see what rabbits Draghi is pulling out of the hat tomorrow.