Forex news from the European morning session - 20 February 2020
Headlines:
- China government urges businesses to resume operations at a quicker pace
- BOJ's Kuroda: Volatility remains high in global markets
- China's Hubei province calls for firms not to resume work before 11 March
- UK January retail sales +0.9% vs +0.7% m/m expected
- Japan maintains overall economic assessment for the month of February
- South Korea reports first death from the new coronavirus
- China says to roll out more measures to stabilise trade
- China says expects consumption to bottom out in March, recover in Q2
- Germany March GfK consumer confidence 9.8 vs 9.8 expected
Markets:
- CHF leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities softer; E-minis down 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 2.7 bps to 1.538%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,616.20
- WTI up 0.3% to $53.45
- Bitcoin down 0.3% to $9,580
The push higher continues for USD/JPY as we see a test of the 112.00 level today after a surge higher in trading yesterday from 110.00 towards 111.50.
The recent break in the pair from Treasury yields and the current market sentiment is one to be wary about as we see the market start to develop a new focus currently:
The dollar also continued its march higher against the likes of the pound, aussie, kiwi and loonie with cable finding fresh lows for the year despite better UK retail sales data.
Cable moved up from 1.2900 to 1.2915 on the release before falling back to 1.2850.
Meanwhile, the aussie is continuing to be pressured after a mixed labour market report earlier with AUD/USD easing from 0.6650 to 0.6622 and in turn is dragging the kiwi lower too.
The overall risk mood in the market is a tad softer, with Treasury yields sitting lower and European stocks also trading down at the moment. US futures are also 0.2% lower but that hasn't quite put a dent in yen pairs for the time being.
In other news, gold continues to be a standout performer as well as price is 0.3% higher on the session - trading close to $1,616 currently.
