Forex news from the European trading session - 3 April 2020
Headlines:
- Tokyo reports 89 new coronavirus cases, brings total tally to 773 cases
- Kremlin spokesman says won't confirm if Russia will join OPEC+ meeting next Monday
- OPEC+ delegate said to see a global output cut of 10 mil bpd as a realistic goal
- Spain reports 117,710 total coronavirus cases, up by 7,472 cases from yesterday
- S&P affirms Japan at A+, outlook remains positive
- Germany reportedly set to reject coronabonds at euro area minister meeting
- PBOC says it is to cut RRR for smaller banks
- UK March final services PMI 34.5 vs 35.7 prelim
- Singapore tightens restrictive measures, to go into effect from next Tuesday
- It is going to be another day of messy oil headlines
- Eurozone March final services PMI 26.4 vs 28.4 prelim
- OPEC+ reportedly said to discuss possible 10 mil bpd output cuts next week
- Japan may declare state of emergency at 'any day' now - senior LDP official
- Oil pares losses on talk of OPEC+ meeting being set for next Monday
- Japan reportedly said to offer ¥300,000 handout to virus-hit households
- Italy reportedly planning up to €40 billion in new stimulus packages
- RKI reports 79,696 coronavirus cases in Germany, up by 6,174 cases from yesterday
Markets:
- USD leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities slightly softer; E-minis down 0.8%
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 0.585%
- Gold flat at $1,613.90
- WTI up 4.9% to $26.57
- Bitcoin up 3.5% to $6,985
Oil headlines were the main story of the session but in the currencies space, it is all about the dollar as the greenback extended its good form on the week into the final stretch.
OPEC+ set a date for a meeting on Monday next week and that helped oil to rally on hopes of some discussion about a 10 mil bpd worth of output cuts.
But so far, there is no official confirmation of Russia and other outside producers joining.
Nonetheless, the news helped turn oil prices around as we see WTI cover 4% losses to turn them into over 5% gains at one point - rising from $23.70 to $27.00.
The overall risk mood remains slightly softer as we look towards the US jobs report release and that is underpinning the dollar across the board, and also against EM currencies.
EUR/USD pushed lower to fresh one-week lows just under 1.0800 from 1.0840 while USD/JPY extended higher from 108.05 to 108.50, just above its 200-day moving average.
The greenback also kept firmer against commodity currencies with AUD/USD easing back under 0.6000 while USD/CAD is also a little higher around 1.4180 despite the gains in oil.
Looking ahead, all eyes will turn towards the US jobs report but don't expect it to tell us anything we don't already know. It'll be a passing event but the market may choose to wait on it to be over and done with before it goes running ahead of the weekend.
