Forex news from the European trading session - 21 May 2020
Headlines:
- UK May CBI trends total orders -62 vs -50 expected
- UK PM Johnson: We are making vast progress in testing and tracing
- UK May flash services PMI 27.8 vs 24.0 expected
- Eurozone May flash services PMI 28.7 vs 25.0 expected
- Germany May flash manufacturing PMI 36.8 vs 39.4 expected
- France May flash services PMI 29.4 vs 28.2 expected
- Singapore says that travellers can transit through its airport starting from 2 June
- Germany reports 745 new coronavirus cases, another 57 deaths in latest update
Markets:
- EUR leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities lower; E-minis down 0.5%
- US 10-year yields down 0.8 bps to 0.672%
- Gold down 0.7% to $1,736.50
- WTI up 1.8% to $34.10
- Bitcoin down 2.6% to $9,335
It was a quiet session overall as risk tones stayed on the defensive and that helped the dollar keep firmer against most of the major currencies basket on the day.
But a couple of bids in the euro helped to push the single currency higher, with EUR/USD moving from 1.0960 to test the 1.1000 handle once again as it did yesterday.
The 200-day moving average sits close by at 1.1015 and will also be a key level to watch.
Elsewhere, it is all about the dollar keeping its advance as we see US futures keep lower by around 0.5% to 0.7% throughout the session. European stocks are also more subdued as a result, with the DAX still down by a little over 1% at the moment.
That is seeing AUD/USD softer at around 0.6560-70 levels with NZD/USD also trading lower to 0.6110-20 levels for the most part during the session.
The pound did pick up a little bid from lows just under 1.2200 to 1.2250, before paring those gains to settle around 1.2210-30 levels as we look towards North American trading.
The big question for Wall Street will be what to make of the latest pullback here. As the S&P 500 approaches its key daily moving averages, it is backing off a little at first glance.
Is US-China tensions and the sheer amount of uncertainty suddenly enough to turn the rally around? Or is this all just merely a pause before stocks continue to rip higher once again?
