Forex trading headlines from the European morning session 3 April
News:
- BOE credit conditions report says more banks are willing to lend above 90% LTV
- BOE’s McCafferty has no expectation of rate rises for some time
- Russia’s Lavrov calls for “de-escalalation of rhetoric”
- French fin min Sapin says France will maintain deficit cuts
- UK’s Osborne will be vigilant on household debt
- PBOC will closely watch latest moves of international capital flows
Data:
- March UK Markit/CIPS services PMI 57.6 vs 58.1 exp
- February euro zone retail sales +0.4% vs -0.6% exp m/m
- Eurozone Markit services PMI March 52.2 vs 52.4 exp
- German Markit services PMI March 53.00 vs 54.00 exp
- French Markit services PMI March 51.5 vs 51.4 exp
- Italian Markit services PMI March 49.5 vs 42.0 exp
- Spanish Markit services PMI March 54.0 vs 53.5 exp
- Irish Markit services PMI March 60.7 vs 57.5 prev
- Nikkei closes up 0.84% at 15,071.88
- Shanghai Composite Index closes down 0.74% at 2043.70
An understandably cautious morning session as we wait for the all important event of the day/year/month/century etc but we’ve seen the not so mighty pound under some pressure after weaker services PMI.
A mixed bag of Eurozone PMI had left the euro largely unmoved with EURUSD pinned around 1.3765 and other pairs in tight ranges. But then came the UK reading and GBPUSD fell to 1.6605 from 1.6640 and then finally through the previously stubborn buying interest at 1.6600 to session lows of 1.6582 before finding a little support.
EURGBP needed no excuse for another pop at 0.8300 from 0.8270 and posted 0.8302 so far, but still mindful of the decent resistance up to 0.8310. GBP pairs have all naturally suffered in the wake.
Elsewhere it’s all been a bit of a yawn to be honest. USDJPY has been pinned around 103.90 and USDCHF around 0.8870. AUDUSD found support toward 0.9200 and has had a rally to 0.9240 while NZDUSD has also found support on the dip to 0.8515 to climb back to 0.8542.
The loonie once again finds itself in favour and USDCAD has given up its gains from yesterday to drift back down below 1.1010 to once again have a look at the strong 1.1000 barrier interest.
So, bring on the ECB and let battle commence.
