Forex news from the European trading session - 24 September 2021
Headlines:
- Latest polls continue to pin German conservatives behind ahead of election weekend
- Bitcoin down over 5% after China vows harsh crackdown on cryptocurrencies
- UK September CBI retailing reported sales 11 vs 35 expected
- PBOC issues notice to prevent, dispose of risks from crypto speculation
- China state planner issues notice on crackdown of crypto mining
- Germany September Ifo business climate index 98.8 vs 98.9 expected
- Chinese gaming companies vow self-regulation amid concerns of a further crackdown
- ECB's Lagarde: Many of the causes of higher prices are temporary
- The bond market finally comes to life
Markets:
- CHF leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.4%
- US 10-year yields up 1.2 bps to 1.421%
- Gold up 0.6% to $1,752.14
- WTI down 0.2% to $73.15
- Bitcoin down 8.1% to $41,100
The session started off with more tepid sentiment in general but equities are seeing a slight pullback after the gains in the past few days as the week winds down.
Evergrande and China fears are still lingering for the most part, providing some room for caution despite the greed put forward by dip buyers post-FOMC this week.
European indices are lower across the board, with modest losses observed but nothing overly dramatic. For some context, the DAX is down 0.7% but that still isn't enough to erase the gains yesterday and on the week, the index is still up 0.3%.
That may not seem like much but don't forget that the week started off with a 3% plunge on Monday amid a broad market selloff at the time.
Anyway, FX was more straightforward as higher yields kept the yen lightly pressured while the dollar is keeping a decent advance amid a softer risk mood.
EUR/USD gradually eased from 1.1730 to 1.1715 while GBP/USD also fell from its post-BOE highs around 1.3710 to 1.3675 as the dollar keeps firmer.
Commodity currencies are the notable laggards with USD/CAD moving up from 1.2670 to 1.2700 and AUD/USD falling from 0.7290 to 0.7250 on the session.
Among the main stories in the market today is the plunge in cryptocurrencies as China vows a harsh crackdown, stating that all crypocurrency-related activities are illegal and that they will be clamping down hard on that (a repeat message but still, a fresh one).
Bitcoin was dumped from $44,800 to $40,700 as price tests its 100-day moving average again while Ether sold off by more than 12% at one point to a low of $2,736.
