Forex news from the European morning session 1 April 2015
News:
- Japan - LDP's Yamamoto says BOJ must ease again on April 30
- Kuroda says BOJ won't continue to ease aimlessly
- Draghi says the ECB's QE decision in Jan was evolution not revolution
- Greek econ minister says he expects agreement with creditors on reforms to be reached next week
- Bundesbank says the German debt to GDP ratio fell to 74.7% in 2014
- German engineering orders down 3% in Feb
- UK election concerns cited for pound drop
- Option expiries 10am NY cut 1 April 2015
Data:
- March 2015 UK Markit/CIPS manufacturing PMI 54.4 vs 54.3 exp
- Eurozone Markit mftg PMI March final 52.2 vs 51.9 exp
- German Markit mftg PMI final March 52.8 vs 52.4 exp
- France Markit mftg PMI final 48.8 vs 48.2 exp
- Italian Markit mftg PMI final March 53.3 vs 52.1 exp
- Spanish Markit mftg PMI March 54.3 vs 54.2 prev
- Swiss SVME PMI March 47.9 vs 47.2 exp
- Irish unemployment rate falls in March to 10% vs 10.1% prev
- Japanese vehicle sales March -13.1% vs -14.2% prev
- Irish Markit mftg PMI March 56.8 v 57.5 prev
- Australian commodity index March yy -19.7% vs -21.6% prev
- Nikkei 225 closes down -0.90% at 19034.84
It's been a morning that started off with the euro on the back foot despite better than expected PMI data but then was soon overtaken by the pound getting a sharp kicking lower, also despite better data with talk of large pre-election outflows
EURUSD struggled to get above 1.0785 before retreating to 1.0745 but then saw a further dip to 1.0720 after better PMI data failed to inspire and the US$ demand prevailed. EURGBP dipped to 0.7230 and EURJPY to 128.60 as USDJPY failed to breach 120.00
Cue the UK PMI and we saw cable first rally above 1.4840 helping to push EURGBP lower but then we were soon dropping in rapid time to 1.4760 then 1.4739 before staging a rally to 1.4780. EURGBP posted 0.7277 in a rush too and has since been up to 0.7291. Overall the pound has had a soggy time of it having looked sprightly enough at the start of the session
USDCAD enjoyed a rally up to 1.2710 but then gave up its gains as oil turned a little higher and USD demand started to wane.Been down to 1.2643 in quick time. AUDUSD and NZDUSD have both been on the backfoot but finding bids into 0.7580 and 0.7390 respectively
Thin liquidity out there this week as the Easter hols kick in and it's not going to get any prettier
