Forex news from the European morning session - 11 February 2020
Headlines:
- US January NFIB small business optimism index 104.3 vs 103.5 expected
- UK December visible trade balance £0.8 billion vs -£10.0 billion expected
- UK Q4 preliminary GDP 0.0% vs 0.0% q/q expected
- ICYMI: China has changed its definition of 'confirmed cases' in latest coronavirus guidelines
- China is said to be urging quicker output resumption in most regions
- ECB review could be rushed to set an inflation goal by July - report
Markets:
- AUD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities higher; E-minis up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 1.4 bps to 1.583%
- Gold down 0.2% to $1,569.80
- WTI up 2.1% to $50.60
- Bitcoin flat at $9,872
The market continues to brush aside fears surrounding the coronavirus situation, as risk is taking comfort from the more solid performance by Wall Street yesterday.
That is setting up risk trades to be slightly more buoyed, though gains are still quite measured in European morning trade.
The aussie leads the charge in the currencies space but AUD/USD sees gains capped by key hourly moving averages as price holds just above 0.6700 for now.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY stays underpinned above its 100-hour moving average but continues to find it tough to break the 110.00 level during the session.
European equities are keeping modest gains, with Treasury yields also slightly higher - but there isn't any major extension of the slight risk-on tilt over the past few hours.
The pound was also a decent mover as cable ran from 1.2900 to 1.2925 before a flurry of UK economic data, which helped it move to 1.2942 before backing off slightly after running into some resistance from the 100-hour moving average.
Oil is also posting modest gains as it recovers back above the $50 level, although Russia reaffirms that they haven't confirmed to be on board with additional OPEC+ output cuts.
