Forex news from the European morning session - 26 April 2019
Headlines:
- UK CBI April trends total orders -5 vs 2 expected
- ECB's Rehn: Not very convinced of effectiveness of tiered interest rates
- Chinese president Xi reportedly could travel to US to sign trade deal as early as June
- UK Finance March mortgage approvals 40.0k vs 38.7k expected
- BOJ widens buying range for 10 to 25-year bonds under its May operations
- ECB's Rehn: Investors may be doubting effectiveness of central bank's policy
- SNB's Jordan: Rates will eventually turn positive again, but can't say when
- ECB's Rehn: Some governing council members see rates low for longer period
Markets:
- NZD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities mixed; E-minis flat
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 2.52%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,280.50
- WTI down 1.8% to $64.03
- Bitcoin down 5.8% to $5,160
It was a relatively quiet session as markets continue to wait on the release of the US Q1 GDP data before making any real moves on the day. The dollar is mixed against the rest of the major currencies bloc as overall movement remains rather minimal with the trading ranges for the day somewhat narrow.
The kiwi was bolstered since Asian trading but continued to creep higher from 0.6640 to 0.6650 levels following better trade balance data and comments by RBNZ governor, Adrian Orr, that he is "not particularly worried" about the state of the New Zealand economy.
The aussie also saw gains after better terms of trade data but I would argue it's mostly short covering after yesterday's failed attempt to crack below the 0.7000 handle against the dollar. As mentioned earlier, I would reckon only if key stops are taken out around 0.6980 will we see a further run lower in AUD/USD.
Other major currencies mostly held in range with USD/JPY lurking around 111.60-70 levels as Japanese traders are off for their 10-day break. EUR/USD holds in just a 23 pips range as traders are awaiting US data before confirming their next step.
Risk sentiment is also in search of fresh direction to wrap up the week so expect the US Q1 GDP report later to play a key role in helping markets decide on what to do next.
