Forex news from the European morning session - 19 February 2020
Headlines:
- USD/JPY climbs to highest level since May last year
- Guess who's not playing ball again today?
- UK January CPI +1.8% vs +1.6% y/y expected
- China refineries reportedly processing 25% less oil than they were last year
- Germany's DIHK sees 2020 GDP growth at 0.7% amid sluggish conditions
Markets:
- CAD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities higher; E-minis up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 0.3 bps to 1.558%
- Gold up 0.4% to $1,608.27
- WTI up 1.2% to $52.68
- Bitcoin down 0.1% to $10,144
It was a session largely bereft of key headlines with UK CPI data being the main one.
That said, there was some decent movement in the market as USD/JPY rose to its highest levels since May last year and is keeping gains ahead of North American trading.
Risk was largely more positive since the Asia Pacific session and European equities ran with that to post decent gains on the day so far. Although the bond market isn't really playing ball, yen pairs look to be tired of getting caught in between and pushed higher today.
USD/JPY climbed from 110.05 to 110.45 during the session while the loonie quietly gained on higher oil prices, with USD/CAD easing from 1.3240 to 1.3225 - nearing a test of the 200-day moving average.
The pound was also a decent mover as cable fell to 1.2974 to test its 200-hour moving average before climbing back up to 1.3023 after inflation data beat out expectations.
But gains were short-lived as price fell back to 1.2980 before sticking around 1.3000 now.
Looking ahead, yen pairs will certainly be a key focus with USD/JPY threatening a meaningful breakout above 110.50 potentially so keep an eye on that in the session to come.
