Forex trading headlines from the European morning session 7 April
News:
- Mersch: QE is a theoretical concept
- ECB’s Nowotny says further rate cuts have not been ruled out
- ECB’s Weidman: Monetary policy cannot solve the financial crisis
- Ukraine’s Yatseniuk says they will not allow foreign troops to seize Ukrainian territory
- Putin says Russia will not allow non-governmental organizations to be used for “destructive” purposes
- France must become more competitive says new fin min Sapin
- France and Germany must cooperate to advance Europe says Schaeuble
- ECB’s Mersch: Bank assessment will increase transparency
- UK’s House of Fraser to be bought by Chinese for £450m
Data:
- German industrial output Feb m/m +0.4% vs +0.3% exp
- Spanish industrial output Feb y/y +2.8% vs +1.7% exp
- April euro zone sentix index 14.1 vs 14.2 exp
- Italian Q4 public deficit to GDP ratio 1.1% vs 1.5% in Q4 2013
- Japanese coincident indicator Feb m/m -1.8 as exp
- Nikkei closes down 1.69% at 14,808.85
It’s been a cautious/quiet start to the week but one that’s seen some key levels tested and the euro finding support on some ECB member headlines.
USDJPY kicked off by having a look at the 103.00 bids falling from 103.24 to 103.01 on a weaker Nikkei and that put a lid on yen pairs too.
It wasn’t long though before a stream of comments from ECB members dampening immediate hopes of QE and the euro began a steady, albeit painfully slow move, from 1.3703 to test strong offers at 1.3730 and with it dragging up EURPY to 141.77 from lows of 141.12. This in turn has put the bid back into USDJPY which has climbed back to 103.30 before capping again.
Rumblings in Ukraine and stronger inflation data have given CHF a leg up and we’ve seen another steady move, this time lower for USDCHF to 0.8890 from 0.8917 and EURCHF to 1.2207 from 1.2220
GBPUSD has had the morning off with a range of 1.6568-84 being capped by the EURGBP demand to the 0.8285 offers from 0.8265 on opening
USDCAD didn’t even bother to re-test the o/n lows and has ground its way higher to 1.1007 as I type from 1.0978 when I sat down while AUD and NZD did little but have dipped in the latter stages to new lows of 0.9260/0.8580 from 0.9284/0.8600.
A cautious start to the week ansd tight ranges but it’s a pattern of trading we are having to get more and more used to.
