- Swiss trade balance +120.5 mln chf in March vs +719.5 mln in February
- French April business morale rises to 71 vs 68 in March, better than median forecast of 69
- Euro zone April PMI (flash) better than expected; manufacturing 36.7 vs forecast 34.7; services 43.1 vs forecast 41.4; composite 40.5 vs forecast 38.9
- Euro zone February current a/c deficit -8.1 bln euros vs -12.3 bln in January. Better than median forecast of -10.7 bln
- Euro zone combined net direct/portfolio investment inflow 48.0 bln euros in February compared to outflow -23.3 bln in Jan
- Euro zone February industry orders -0.6% m/m, -34.5% y/y. Better than median forecasts of -2.2%, -34.5%. But still horrible
- Swiss ZEW investor sentiment -27.7 in April vs -57.1 in March
- UK CBI manufacturing order book balance -57 in April vs -58 in March. Worse than median forecast of -54.
Euro saw some improvement this morning, bolstered by the release of better than expected data (euro zone PMI, current a/c) See above. EUR/USD gains accelerated when buy-stops just above 1.3050 were triggered sending the pairing to a session high 1.3073.
Cable rallied strongly in very active early trade, the Russian central bank buying aggressively in 1.4520/30 area. However the same central bank, together with an Asian central bank, came in selling aaround 1.4595 putting an end to the rally. Worries concerning the size of the governments’ borrowing persist.
Swissy came in for some accelerated general strength late on, when decent-sized sell stops just below 1.1600 in USD/CHF were triggered.
JPY was weak across the board. Some talk of launch of Nomura Secs mutual fund tomorrow. Total lauch amount is 1,100 bln yen, which is to be invested in AUD, BRL, ZAR and TRY. Expectations of related JPY selling against these currencies, mainly at the London WMR fixing Friday
