Forex news from the European morning session - 9 April 2019
Headlines:
- France's Macron reportedly doesn't want Brexit delayed beyond December 2019
- No member state has argued to block Brexit extension, says EU officials
- US March NFIB small business optimism index 101.8 vs 102.0 expected
- More from Barnier: UK can revoke Article 50 to prevent no-deal Brexit
- EU's Barnier: Brexit withdrawal agreement will not be reopened
- Germany denies report Merkel would accept backstop time limit
- Brexit: Germany's Merkel said to be willing to put five-year time limit on Irish backstop
- EU says WTO unlikely to allow US tariffs on $11 billion of imports
- France's Loiseau: Need to understand why UK needs Brexit extension
- Germany's Roth: UK Brexit deadline expires on Friday unless strict conditions are met
- China looks into eliminating Bitcoin mining
Markets:
- AUD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities mixed, E-minis down 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 0.7 bps to 2.515%
- Gold up 0.4% to $1,302.80
- WTI up 0.1% to $64.49
- Bitcoin down 0.9% to $5,208
The Brexit circus is back in town and that sent the pound for a bit of a spin in the European morning today. A tweet stating that German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is willing to put a five-year time limit on the Irish backstop saw cable jump from 1.3060 to a high of 1.3122. But as mentioned at the time, the headline was too good to be true and right on cue, the denial report came soon after and cable fell back to 1.3070-80 levels as seen now.
Otherwise, markets were generally quiet once again as risk sentiment remains in search of fresh direction this week. Equities are mixed while bond yields aren't offering a whole lot for currencies as the cautious tones continue to prevail.
USD/JPY ranged around 111.30-50 throughout the session while EUR/USD remains trapped by large expiries between 1.1215-75 and trades at the upper end of that extreme with near-term sentiment holding slightly more bullish still.
The aussie remains the silent gainer in all of this as AUD/USD broke above key near-term resistance around 0.7130 but is now challenging daily resistance around 0.7142-43, which will prove pivotal in the session ahead.
The dollar holds somewhat weaker on the day but there isn't any major fallout just yet considering the quiet start markets are experiencing to the new week.
