- Sweden’s Riksbank raises key repo rate to 0.75% from 0.5%
- French Q2 ILO jobless rate falls to 9.7%, better than median forecast of 10%
- Japan’s Ozawa: FX intervention just by Japan may not have much effect, but should be prepared to act
- Swiss Q2 real GDP +0.9% q/q, +3.4% y/y, better than median forecasts +0.8%, +2.7% respectively
- Nationwide UK August house prices -0.9% m/m, +3.9% y/y. Much weaker than median forecasts of -0.3%, +4.9% respectively
- UK construction PMI 52.1 in August, down from 54.1 in July. Much weaker than median forecast of 53.2
- Euro zone Q2 GDP confirmed at +1.0% q/q. Revised up to 1.9% y/y from previous 1.7%
- Swiss retail sales +4.8% y/y in July, better than median forecast of +2.3%
- Spanish/German 10 year government bond yield spread fall to 169 bps . Lowest since August 20
Not too much going on. Sterling has had a poor morning, underminned by poor house price, construction PMI data. Swissy on the flip side has had good morning, underpinned by good Q2 GDP, retail sales data.
EUR/USD firmer on day, up at 1.2825 from early 1.2790. The pairing did suffer a bit of a swoon posting a session low 1.2777, but ready buyers emerged. The sell-off seemed to coincide with announcement of Swedish rate hike, which saw heavy selling of the EUR/SEK cross.
Asian central bank and hedge funds notable buyers below 1.2800 this morning. On the topside sell orders noted at 1.2830/50 and they’ve helped cap rally attempts at 1.2838 so far.
Cable down at 1.5400 from early 1.5445. Poor UK house price/construction PMI data have weighed on sterling. Real money buyer seen around 1.5375 low helping lend much-needed support.
EUR/GBP up at .8325 from early .8280, but sell orders noted at .8330/50 have capped topside at .8338 so far.
EUR/CHF down at 1.2980 from early 1.3015 having been as low as 1.2945 at one stage. Swissy supported by strong GDP/retail sales data. UK clearer notable seller in very early trade.
USD/JPY unchanged at 84.18. Got as low as 84.01 before decent buying from a Dutch bank lent much-needed support. The Danish bank, who has been notable buyer of late, was also said to have been in buying again.
