- French consumer confidence rises in April to -41 vs revised -42 in March (prev -43) Better than median forecast of -43
- Italy April business morale rises to 64.2 vs revised 60.9 in March. Better than median forecast of 61.2. First rise after 10 consecutive falls
- Uk’s Brown in Warsaw urges EBRD, World Bank, EIB to do more to support banking sector in central, eastern Europe
- Geneva: World Health Organization says does not recommend any travel restrictions or border closures due to swine flu
- Italy’s March non-EU trade surplus 176 mln. First surplus in 2 years
- Think Tank REF sees Italy’s economy shrinking 4% in 2009
- UK CBI retail sales balance +3 in April vs -44 in March, much better than median forecast of -40, but Easter may be distorting data somewhat
Rather a quiet morning session. Cable most lively of major pairings.
An early sell-off saw a 1.4518 session low posted. Sterling was being underminned by WSJ article reporting regulators have told BofA and Citigroup that they may need to raise more capital based on early stress test results. Bank of Korea was reported an aggressive participant in the selling.
Reports of buy orders at 1.4500 however helped provide support and cable spent remainder of morning grinding slowly higher, the rally accelerating on release of much better than expected CBI retail sales data. We’re presently at 1.4585.
EUR/USD is little changed during a morning of narrow range trading. The release of better than expected economic data (see above) has lent some much needed support, but the pairing remains weighed down by heightened risk aversion, swine flu/banking concerns to the fore. Sources report Bank of China, “real money” buying this morning in the low 1.30’s.
