Forex news from the European trading session - 12 May 2020
Headlines:
- UK extends furlough scheme for four months, until the end of October
- US April NFIB small business optimism index 90.9 vs 83.0 expected
- ECB's Kazimir: ECJ has sole authority over ECB actions
- BOE's Broadbent: It is possible more easing will be needed
- Spain orders two-week quarantine for incoming travellers from 15 May
- China says both sides should implement Phase One trade deal with equality, mutual respect
- China says suspension of beef imports from Australian firms not linked to coronavirus-related dispute
- Australian treasurer Frydenberg tested for coronavirus after coughing in parliament
- Bank of France says weekly economic activity was reduced by 27% in April
- China raises soybean imports forecast for the current marketing year
- ICYMI: Wuhan reportedly plans city-wide coronavirus testing over 10-day period
- Germany reports 933 new coronavirus cases, 116 deaths in latest update
- Austria's Kurz says aims to show solidarity with Italy
Markets:
- AUD, NZD lead, USD lags on the day
- European equities mixed; E-minis up 0.4%
- US 10-year yields flat at 0.705%
- Gold up 0.4% to $1,704.24
- WTI up 5.6% to $25.50
- Bitcoin up 1.9% to $8,804
It was a quiet session for the most part but one that saw risk trades make a recovery, with US futures climbing steadily after a softer start to the day.
That paved the way for a softer dollar, especially as we moved towards midday in London, where US futures turned positive after having been down as much as 0.8% at one point.
The greenback fell across the board, even erasing gains against the aussie - which started the day weaker after China banned beef imports from four Australian firms.
AUD/USD recovered from 0.6470 to hit a high of 0.6529 as the risk mood improved, upon a break of the key hourly moving averages and the 0.6500 handle.
Meanwhile, EUR/USD also moved above some key near-term levels in a move from 1.0810 to 1.0850 as the dollar slipped during the session.
Cable was more choppy, falling from 1.2350 to 1.2310-20 on remarks by BOE policymaker Broadbent as he did not rule out negative rates, before the pair climbed back higher on the day on dollar softness to 1.2370 levels currently.
As the risk mood keeps more positive, all eyes will be on whether or not Wall Street can keep the turnaround today going in the session ahead.
Fed speakers and US CPI data will be ones to watch for the dollar in terms of key events.