The aussie continues to lead the way while the yen lags behind
The performance of the major currencies has barely changed from the start of the session but we have seen an extension in terms of gains for the likes of the aussie, pound and loonie. However, in the past hour things have started to quiet down as the slew of economic data from Europe has come to an end. Markets will now look towards the US non-farm payrolls report for further clues on direction.
The aussie is holding up well as risk sentiment remains positive on the day. E-minis are up by 1.2% currently and China's RRR cut announcement only helped to spur further gains in the aussie with AUD/USD touching a high of 0.7054 earlier.
Meanwhile, the pound is doing pound things with the quid gaining some ground as Brexit developments continue to wait in the wings. The latest is that European leaders are reported to offer Theresa May "clarifications" to get her Brexit deal through parliament.
But it must be noted that "clarifications" are very much different to "legal assurances", which is what parliament is seeking. The pound continues to sit at the highs as it runs into key resistance levels against the dollar as noted earlier here.
The loonie is also holding up well as oil prices continue to sit near the highs for the day as well. Oil is up by ~2% currently and that's helping to keep the loonie underpinned ahead of the Canadian jobs report which will be released at the same time as the US non-farm payrolls report later.
The yen remains the laggard as risk sentiment turns for the better to start the day and also as Japanese authorities came out to jawbone the currency following the flash crash yesterday.
For a host of previews for the US non-farm payrolls report later, you can check out the posts below:
