Forex news from the European morning session 18 May 2015

News:

  • US Fed Evans repeats that he's in no hurry to tighten monetary policy
  • Fed's Evans: Inflation will take longer rather than sooner to reach 2%
  • ECB's Mersch repeats the need to keep up the pace of QE "intervention" until inflation back on track
  • Spain's Guindos says EURUSD "normalizing" around 1.1500
  • Bundesbank sees likely continuation of economic expansion in Germany
  • Greece says four red lines remain in talks with lenders
  • More time needed to bridge gaps with Greece says EU
  • Timeline for Greek cash crunch
  • Don't rule out a third date for Merkel and Tsipras says Germany
  • More from Maeda: Japan needs to be mindful of downside risks to global economy
  • Kuwait's OPEC governor doesn't see oil prices falling in H2 2015
  • JCB's Bamford says UK should not fear exit from the EU
  • Option expiries 10am NY cut today 18 May

Data:

  • Switzerland retail sales March yy -2.8% vs -2.7% prev
  • Italy global trade balance March +EUR 4.06bln vs +3.536bln prev
  • Nikkei 225 closes up +0.80% at 19,890.27

A morning short on data but long on rhetoric and we've seen some early USD buying followed by the appearance of sellers in what has been a nervous start to a big week ahead

GBPUSD and EURUSD both fell early doors with cable ultimately testing 1.5650 support/bids from 1.5720 and the latter finally posting 1.1367 from highs of 1.1447 only to rebound and challenge 1.1420 while GBPUSD has shown little enthusiasm to keep pace on the return higher.

EURGBP capped at 0.7285 and fell back to 0.7260 before finding fresh buyers while EURJPY had a look at 136.00 support from 136.90 before bouncing back to 136.65

USDJPY had been underpinned by a firmer Nikkei only to find a cap into 119.80 as yen buying prevailed and then pushed down on a softer USD but finding support as yen pairs are pushed back up.

USDCHF had an early move up to test 0.9220 but ran out of steam with EURCHF also wobbling lower after failing to hold above 1.0500 but running into support at 1.0450 so far

USDCAD has enjoyed support from softer oil prices and cross buying with 1.2000 becoming a line in the sand again and climbing to 1.2055 as I type.

AUDUSD and NZDUSD both saw early dips and both still sitting near session lows at 0.8000 and 0.7416

A big week ahead with inflation data and central bank Minutes dominating but there's been little pausing for breath so far.