Forex news from the European trading session - 5 November 2021
Headlines:
- Pfizer reveals COVID-19 pill that cuts risk of hospitalisation, death by 89%
- German state leaders call for urgent action to address surging COVID-19 cases
- Eurozone September retail sales -0.3% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- UK: Growing expectation that Article 16 will be triggered
- BOE's Bailey: We never promised a November rate hike
- China property developers facing a troubling end to the week
- ECB's Makhlouf: I'm comfortable with current ECB policy stance
- UK October Halifax house prices +0.9% vs +0.4% m/m expected
- Germany September industrial production -1.1% vs +1.0% m/m expected
- ECB's Stournaras: Inflation pressures are temporary
Markets:
- USD leads, AUD and GBP lag on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields up 0.4 bps to 1.528%
- Gold up 0.1% to $1,793.66
- WTI up 0.8% to $79.52
- Bitcoin flat at $61,334
It was a rather straightforward session as the dollar picked up from where it left off yesterday and extended its advance across the major currencies space.
EUR/USD moved down from 1.1550 to 1.1530 while GBP/USD slid from 1.3490 to 1.3425 as the pound's woes continued with sellers eyeing the 29-30 Sept lows @ 1.3412-15.
USD/CAD moved up from 1.2455 to 1.2470 to test its 200-day moving average while AUD/USD is down 0.4% and flirting with a break below its 100-day moving average.
Elsewhere, equities were steady with European indices pushing higher once again - France's CAC 40 breaches the 7,000 mark - while bond yields also kept the calm on the session.
It's all shaping up well for dollar bulls but we'll see if this edition of the US non-farm payrolls will help to confirm that or take away some of the momentum in the past few sessions, as the greenback knocks on the door of key technical levels.