Forex trading news and economic data headlines 14 February 2017
News:
- Russian lawmaker says Flynn's resignation suggests Trump has been backed into a corner
- Reports coming out that the half-brother of North Korea's Kim Jong-un has been assassinated - Livesquawk
- China's SAFE starts assessing impact if US adopts protectionist measures
- BOJ's Kuroda says a free trade system is needed to keep the Asian economy growing
- Ex-BOJ's Shirai says monetary policy isn't the key to boosting Japan's sluggish economy
- We won't accept one euro of more austerity says Greece
- UK government rejects petition to stop Trump visit
- GBP pairs wobble again but dip-buyers poised
- Higher inflation knocks BOE hike hopes out the window
- Nikkei 225 closes down -1.13% at 19,238.98
Data:
- January 2017 UK CPI 1.8% vs 1.9% exp y/y
- UK PPI output mm NSA +6% vs +0.3% exp
- Germany Feb ZEW current situation 76.4 vs 77.0 exp
- Q4 2016 Eurozone GDP flash 0.4% vs 0.5% exp q/q
- December 2016 Eurozone industrial production -1.6% vs -1.5% exp m/m
- Germany Jan CPI final mm -0.6% as expected
- Germany Q4 GDP flash qq SA +0.4% vs +0.5% exp
- Italy Q4 GDP flash qq WDA +0.2% vs +0.3% exp
- Switzerland Jan CPI mm 0.0% vs -0.1% exp
- January 2017 US NFIB small business optimism index 105.9 vs 105.0 exp
The session began with USDJPY and yen pairs generally still in retreat after the Flynn resignation wobbles but it wasn't long before the pound went headline-grabbing again.
UK CPI came in stronger than before but softer than expected and that was enough to get the algos active, and after testing 1.2550 again in early European trading we were soon testing the other end of the range at 1.2480 then 1.2450. EURGBP had been nudging its way back up having held 0.8450 and from 0.8485 we were through 0.8500 to post 0.8522.
Meanwhile USDJPY was nudging 113.50 again having found demand into 113.20 and the general USD demand was helping to push EURUSD back down to 1.0610 having previously rallied to post 1.0633.A busy data session in Europe has seen little to give the euro any real cheer.
Gold and oil have both remained underpinned as too have the CAD and AUD and apart from a few yen-led sales we've see AUDUSD continue to chew its way up to 0.7697 and USDCAD down to 1.3025.
Equities opened softer but made a few gains and we've plenty of data to come yet not to mention the HH testimony from Yellen at 15.00 GMT
Lots of movement and opportunity still to come for sure.
