Forex news from the European trading session - 10 May 2021
Headlines:
- Eurozone May Sentix investor confidence 21.0 vs 15.0 expected
- Cable gains to fresh highs since late February as buyers keep break above 1.40
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 7 May CHF 705.0 bn vs CHF 701.4 bn prior
- UK April Halifax house prices +1.4% vs +1.1% m/m prior
- ECB's Lane: ECB to assess PEPP in June, could raise or cut purchases
- Germany reports 6,922 new coronavirus cases, 54 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- GBP leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures up 0.1%
- US 10-year yields flat at 1.578%
- Gold up 0.4% to $1,839.03
- WTI up 0.9% to $65.46
- Bitcoin up 0.3% to $58,080
It was a quiet session as the market continues to digest the US non-farm payrolls miss from last week, with risk sentiment keeping more mixed after the Friday gains.
In FX, the action was more centered around the technicals as GBP/USD broke above 1.4000 in Asia before extending that run in European morning trade.
The pair ran up from 1.4030 to hold at the highs above 1.4100 currently as buyers push gains of nearly 1% and targeting the February highs around 1.4200 next.
AUD/USD also saw a similar breakout above 0.7800 as the pair pushed up from 0.7850 to 0.7888. A surge in iron ore prices and a stronger yuan is also helping today.
Meanwhile, the dollar held little changed against the euro but kept higher against the yen - which is the laggard on the day but off earlier lows.
Commodity currencies are faring decently with USD/CAD keeping a little lower and testing 1.2100 while NZD/USD nears the 0.7300 level ahead of US trading.
In the commodities space itself, gold is continuing its solid break above $1,800 to $1,840 while silver is also performing well with over 1% gains to $27.75 currently.
