Forex trading headlines from the European morning session 24 February
- German IFO business climate Feb 111.3 vs 110.6 exp
- Eurzone final inflation Jan m/m -1.1% as exp. y/y +0.8% vs +0.7% exp
- ECB’s Visco says they are ready to consider negative depo rates
- IFO’s Wohlrabe says German companies optimistic but not euphoric
- Troika to demand more public sector layoffs from Greece
- PBOC gov Zhou plays down risks of shadow banking
- Ukraine issues warrant for arrest of Yanukovich
- Japan’s Hamada says BOJ can wait for summer data before deciding on 2nd sales tax hike
- Nikkei closes down 0.19% at 14,837.68
- Shanghai comp index down 1.75% at 2076.69
It’s been a scrappy start generally to the week as is often the case but once again the pound has dominated proceedings with the euro also failing to hold earlier gains.
Cable was sold down early from 1.6644 to test the strong 1.6600 support, or for buyers to pick up cheaper GBP ahead of ongoing Vodafone -related demand. The level held and we rose in rapid time to 1.6640 before then taking out 1.6650 offers to trigger a rally to 1.6678 only to retreat in the wake of strong offers still between 1.6685-6700. We’re now back to 1.6637 as I type.
EURGBP correspondingly jumped to 0.8286 from 0.8252 early on as cable collapsed then fell back in rapid time to test 0.8250 where it still is at the moment. GBP pairs have been similarly whippy.
EURUSD got a lift from better IFO data and slightly higher y/y inflation and we saw euro gains across the board with EURUSD powering to 1.3772 before once again running into good sell interest and we’re back down in the last hour to session lows of 1.3724. EURJPY breached offers at 141.00 only to retreat to 140.63 as I type.
USDJPY has been caught in a lot of cross play action but has chewed its way higher to 102.50 fr0m 102.25 while USDCHF had a look at key support at 0.8850 again dropping from 0.8880 but has since rallied to 0.8896 just ahead of offers at 0.9000. EURCHF tested 1.2185 again before it too found a few buyers and now sits at 1.2205.
AUDUSD and NZDUSD have both been nudging higher after Asian falls but both being capped with NZDUSD also facing a NZD 600m option expiry at 0.8300.USDCAD has seen a steady fall all morning from 1.1126 and currently sits on session lows at 1.1092.
Enough going on to make a few pips but it’s oh so scrappy.
