Forex news from the European trading session - 23 April 2020
Headlines:
- China president Xi: Positive momentum in Chinese economy has not changed
- Spain reports 4,635 new coronavirus cases, the most in nearly a week
- UK April flash services PMI 12.3 vs 27.8 expected
- No pretty details in the PMI releases from Europe
- Eurozone April flash services PMI 11.7 vs 22.8 expected
- Germany April flash manufacturing PMI 34.4 vs 39.0 expected
- France April flash services PMI 10.4 vs 24.5 expected
- The danger of debt becoming more expensive as GDP drops for emerging markets
- China plans to boost state stockpiles with US crops amid virus disruptions - report
- Germany May GfK consumer confidence -23.4 vs -1.8 expected
- France April business confidence 62 vs 80 expected
- Oil extends recovery to over 10% today, back above $15
- RKI reports 2,352 new coronavirus cases in Germany, total confirmed cases now at 148,046
Markets:
- NZD leads, EUR, CHF lag on the day
- European equities mixed; E-minis down 0.1%
- US 10-year yields up 0.6 bps to 0.625%
- Gold up 0.9% to $1,729.77
- WTI up 12.1% to $15.45
- Bitcoin down 0.5% to $7,086
It was a session with a bit of a mixed mood and choppy trading in the dollar, but the weaker euro is what stands out as we count down to the US weekly jobless claims report.
Euro area PMI data were the highlight and they were abysmal to say the least, with the services sector basically cratering amid business shutdowns in the region.
EUR/USD fell from 1.0820 to 1.0800 before slowly easing further to a one-month low of 1.0756, then rebounding slightly to 1.0770-80 levels as the dollar slipped.
At the same time, risk was tempered by the lackluster data from Europe as stocks erased losses to trade more tepidly - similar to US futures which are trading a little lower now.
The dollar was more choppy during the session, losing ground early on with AUD/USD racing to 0.6360 from 0.6320 before easing slightly to 0.6330 as risk slipped.
But as we move towards the tail end of the session, the dollar is losing some ground once again as even cable has moved off lows from 1.2310 to 1.2350-60 levels currently.
Elsewhere, oil prices are still holding steady around $15 to $16 while gold is breaking higher towards $1,730 after keeping above its key hourly moving averages yesterday.
Looking ahead, there is still much to play for in the course of trading today so let's see what the key risk events later may serve up.
