Forex news from the European morning session 4 May 2015

News:

  • Labour minister Skourletis says Greece intends to meet its debt payments this month
  • Constancio says there is sufficient debt available for ECB to buy
  • Brent puts in a slick performance to post 2015 highs
  • Switzerland sovereign rating remains at AAA says Fitch
  • Understanding and misunderstanding QE - More from our guest economist John Hearn
  • Option expiries for 10am NY cut today 4 May

Data:

  • Eurozone Markit mftg PMI April final 52.0 vs 51.9 exp
  • Germany Markit mftg PMI April final 52.1 vs 51.9 exp
  • France Markit mftg PMI April final 48.0 vs 48.4 exp
  • Spain Markit mftg PMI April 54.2 vs 54.7 exp
  • Italy Markit mftg PMI April final 53.8 vs 53.4 exp
  • Greece Markit mftg PMI April 46.5 vs 48.9 prev
  • Swiss SVME PMI April 47.9 vs 47.0 exp
  • SNB sight deposits w-e 1 May CHF 384.17bln vs 385.9bln prev

It's been a thin market with London on May Day holiday and one that's seen the euro under pressure and the greenback mostly finding a few buyers

But it wasn't that way to begin with as EURUSD rallied above 1.1200 and GBPUSD above 1.5160 only to turn around in fairly rapid time to head lower as US$ buyers prevailed

EURUSD was back to 1.1160 when a mixed bag of PMI data left it less than impressed and we've since been back to 1.1127 with EURGBP following it down to 0.7352 from 0.7395 and EURJPY to 133.72 from 134.60

GBPUSD was happy to follow it down to 1.5125 albeit with a few bids along the way on the EURGBP selling while USDJPY held its ground at 120.00 and has made a couple of attempts on 120.25 but capped by EURJPY selling

USDCHF has also enjoyed a trip higher to 0.9386 from 0.9330 but USDCAD has dropped to 1.2122 from 1.2170 as oil prices firmed up with Brent Crude posting 2015 highs of $66.95

AUDUSD and NZDUSD both felt a bit of USD heat and have fallen to 0.7822 and 0.7523 before finding a little support

US factory orders out later at 14.00 GMT which may impact given current FOMC/data paranoia

I'm out of here now to make the most of what's left of the bank holiday. Ryan stepping in to weave his usual magic. Have a good day one and all and thanks for your company as always