Forex news from the European morning session - 25 February 2020
Headlines:
- EU publishes mandate for upcoming post-Brexit trade talks
- More new coronavirus cases starting to emerge in Europe
- UK CBI data earlier shows some promising signs for business investment
- UK February CBI retailing reported sales 1 vs 3 expected
- Trump: The market had 'one bad day' yesterday
- German 10-year bond yields fall to fresh lows since October last year
- European equities see gains vanish within opening hour
- South Korea reports 84 new coronavirus cases, brings total to 977 cases
- Germany Q4 final GDP 0.0% vs 0.0% q/q prelim
- Apple said to have reopened more than half of its retail stores in China
Markets:
- GBP leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities lower; E-minis up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields flat at 1.373%
- Gold down 0.7% to $1,648.10
- WTI down 0.4% to $51.25
- Bitcoin up 0.2% to $9,627
It is still all about risk to start the week as the market weighs up the slump yesterday by taking a bit of a breather - somewhat - in the session today.
US futures and European stocks pushed higher in early trades but those gains vanished within the opening hour of the cash open, as risk aversion crept back in.
Gold was weaker initially, testing its 100-hour moving average near $1,633, before pushing higher towards $1,655 and is settling just below that currently.
The risk mood stayed softer as European indices saw losses pick up and Treasury yields also eased a bit lower before observing a slightly calmer mood now.
USD/JPY eased lower from 110.80 to 110.35 on the softer mood but is now pushing back up to 110.60 as the situation appears to be calmer.
Risk currencies stay pressured though, with AUD/USD slightly under 0.6600 and NZD/USD near session lows under 0.6320. The euro also lost some ground against the dollar with EUR/USD easing from 1.0850 to 1.0830 levels.
The pound was also a decent mover on the session as the currency chased gains above the 200-hour moving average against the dollar, with a move from 1.2940 to 1.2995 but sellers stepped in near the 1.3000 level to drive price back near 1.2960 now.
Looking ahead, the onus now falls upon Wall Street - who has a lot of tinkering and posturing to do in trying to settle the risk debate after the meltdown yesterday.
