Forex news from the European morning session 16 March
News:
- Oil producers will meet in Qatar on 17 April
- OPEC/Non-OPEC production freeze could happen without Iran - Livesquawk
- Swiss president says SNB independence must be respected
- PBOC reported to have cut MLF again by 25bps
- Ahead of the FOMC Barclays offer their thoughts on the data releases
- Option expiries 10am NY cut today 16 March
- Chinese equity markets close higher 16 March
Data:
- February 2016 UK labour market report claimant count -18.0k vs -9.1k exp
- January 2016 Eurozone construction output 3.6% vs -0.6% prior m/m
Not a whole load of note to report from this session with traders eyeing up the US data then interest rate decision later.
The pound got off to another wobbly start with traders testing the soft side and GBPUSD fell to 1.4083 from 1.4115 with EURGBP nudging up to 0.7871 from 0.7855. Better than expected jobs and wages data gave it some brief respite but rallies were quickly sold.
EURUSD has been mostly trawling around the 1.1080 support area with USDJPY running into a few offers above 113.70. Yen demand has seen both these pairs on the back foot for most of the session.
USDCHF and EURCHF both have a consolidation look about them with the SNB never too far away.
USDCAD has been range bound 1.3350-80 as oil trades tightly and unimpressed by the latest meeting news while AUDUSD has enjoyed an up n down session rising from 0.7440 to 0.7475 before heading back to 0.7450 as I type. NZDUSD has had the morning off stuck between 0.6600-20.
The calm before the storm. First of the US data hits our screens at 12.30 GMT with the FOMC looming ever larger at 18.00 GMT.
