Forex news and economic headlines 22 April 2016
News:
- BOJ reported to be discussing negative-rate loans
- BOJ says negative rates will likely weigh on financial institutions profits for the time being
- Where next for USDJPY after the 110.00 break?
- ECB's Coeure says a timely solution is in sight for Greece
- Eurogroup's Dijsselbloem says there is no support for nominal Greek debt haircuts
- EU's Dombrovskis is thinking about a contingency plan to get IMF ok
- ECB SFP lowers 2016 GDP forecast to +1.5% vs +1.7% previously
- Germany's Fuchs says ECB easing hasn't helped economic situation
- German engineering federation would be happy with stagnant sales this year
- Goldman Sachs pushes back BOE rate hike forecast to Q2 2017
- Large option expiries casting a shadow over AUDNZD rally
- Option expiries 10am NY cut today 22 April
- Nikkei 225 closes up +1.2% at 17,572.49
Data:
- Eurozone Markit April manufacturing PMI flash 51.5 vs 51.9 exp
- Germany Markit/BME April manufacturing PMI flash 51.9 vs 51.0 exp
- France Markit April manufacturing PMI flash 48.3 vs 49.9 exp
- Italy industrial orders Feb mm +0.7% vs +0.6% prev
- February 2016 Italian retail sales 0.3% vs 0.0% prior m/m SA
- Japan Feb tertiary industry index mm -0.1% vs -0.5% exp
Bloomberg reported sources saying the BOJ were looking to introduce negative-rate loans to assist lending levels and that set the tone for the session.
USDJPY jumped from 109.40 to 109.80 in an instant, then triggered stops through 110.00 to eventually post 110.74 only pausing for breath a couple of times.
Yen pairs have all been pulled higher but not in a straight line as equity-led euro plays have also been a feature of the landscape. EURUSD had an early look above 1.1300 but didn't like it and has since been back down to test 1.1250 support while EURGBP has broken down through support at 0.7850 to post 0.7841 as I type. That's lent a bid to cable which has posted 1.4383 after earlier touching 1.4315 on general USD demand.
USDCAD has once again been oil-led but the CADJPY demand has tempered USD gains and we retreated into 1.2700 from 1.2760 highs. USDCHF has been underpinned again with EURUSD falling and EURCHF only slowly giving up gains above 1.1000.
AUDUSD has found demand from AUDJPY and AUDNZD demand the latter as a result of large option expiries rolling off at 1.1200 today. That demand has pushed NZDUSD lower.
Lots going on again and we can expect it to continue with US and Canadian data to throw into the mix.
