Forex news from the European trading session - 30 April 2021
Headlines:
- France said to extend COVID-19 vaccine shots to all adults from 15 June onwards
- SNB's Jordan: Swiss franc remains highly valued
- Eurozone April preliminary CPI +1.6% vs +1.6% y/y expected
- Eurozone Q1 preliminary GDP -0.6% vs -0.8% q/q expected
- Italy Q1 preliminary GDP -0.4% vs -0.5% q/q expected
- Germany Q1 preliminary GDP -1.7% vs -1.5% q/q expected
- Spain Q1 preliminary GDP -0.5% vs -0.5% q/q expected
- France April preliminary CPI +1.3% vs +1.3% y/y expected
- France Q1 preliminary GDP +0.4% vs 0.0% q/q expected
- Germany reports 24,329 new coronavirus cases, 306 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- USD and CAD lead, EUR lags on the day
- European equities mostly lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.5%
- US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 1.645%
- Gold down 0.1% to $1,769.63
- WTI down 2.0% to $63.71
- Bitcoin up 2.4% to $54,269
There was a slew of inflation and GDP data in the euro area but none of which really made a splash in the market.
The releases mainly reaffirmed higher price pressures due to base effect adjustments - Eurozone core CPI remains subdued - while Q1 GDP figures across Europe reflected resilience but tepid economic activity in general.
The dollar though, did see some bids as EUR/USD slumped from 1.2110 to 1.2080 as sellers break back below the key trendline resistance @ 1.2108 and even now taking a run below the 100-hour moving average to seize some near-term control.
USD/JPY kept largely steady at 108.80-90 levels while GBP/USD also fell from 1.3940 to 1.3901 but buyers are hanging on at the figure level despite sellers breaking back below the key hourly moving averages @ 1.3912-14 during the session.
Meanwhile, commodity currencies remain little changed in general though the loonie is able to hold its own with USD/CAD seen at 1.2270-80 levels despite lower oil prices.
Elsewhere, the bond market remained calmer but equities are being dealt with a bit of a blow after yesterday's bounce back as US futures are marked modestly lower.
US PCE deflator data and month-end flows at the fix are the two key things to watch next ahead of the weekend.
