EUR/USD sits at 1.3705, not too far from the Asian overnight low of 1.3670. Swiss National Bank intervention to buy the EUR/CHF cross has lent the EUR/USD pairing some much needed, albeit tenuous, support.
Financial markets continue to worry about the ability of Greece, Portugal and Spain to address their budget deficit problems, and these worries aren’t going to go away anytime soon. We’ll have periods where focus shifts elsewhere, but the issues will still be there festering in the background.
Euro zone data due this morning:
07:45 GMT: French trade for December, expected -4.0 bln
07:45 GMT: French central government balance for December
09:00 GMT: ISTAT announces new basket of goods for inflation estimates
10:00 GMT: Italian CPI for January expected +0.2% m/m, +1.3% y/y
11:00 GMT: German industrial production for December, expected +0.6% m/m, -3.7% y/y
Not too much of huge interest in that little lot, German industrial production the standout, and focus will be pretty much on this afternoons US jobs report.
European stocks expected to open lower.
I would expect order reports to be thin on the ground this morning given the recent volatility.