Forex news from the European trading session - 30 April 2020

Headlines:

Markets:

  • CHF leads, AUD lags on the day
  • European equities slightly lower; E-minis down 0.1%
  • US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 0.605%
  • Gold flat at $1,713.75
  • WTI up 17.5% to $17.70
  • Bitcoin up 0.1% to $8,946
EOD 30-04

It was a quiet session for the most part as the market moved along with trepidation, amid a slew of poor economic data from the Eurozone region.

We saw record economic contractions posted for France, Spain, Italy and the Eurozone as a whole in the Q1 preliminary readings; giving a taste of what is to come in Q2.

Stocks failed to take much encouragement after a brighter start, with European equities falling slightly while US futures turned around early gains to sit a little lower currently.

That is leaving major currencies more tepid, with the aussie and kiwi losing ground. AUD/USD fell from 0.6570 to 0.6540 levels while NZD/USD eased from 0.6150 to 0.6120 levels.

The dollar remains mixed across the board as all eyes turn towards the ECB later.

EUR/USD moved from 1.0860 to 1.0891 before easing back to stay near flat levels around 1.0876 currently. Cable is sitting a little higher as the pound continues to bounce around on month-end flows, rising to just above 1.2500 on the session.

It is all about the ECB policy decision today ahead of a long weekend in some parts of Europe and Asia. Let's see what Lagarde & co. will deliver in just under 30 mins from now.