Forex trading headlines from the European trading session 18 September
- BOE MPC minutes show 9-0 vote again to keep rates/QE on hold but report is upbeat
- UK business conditions report remains cautious
- US MBA weekly mortgage index 428.2 vs 385.0 prev
- ECB’s Couere concerned about another financial collapse
- Nikkei closes up 1.35% at 14,505.36
- Shanghai comp index closes up 0.29% at 2191.85
- Swiss ZEW investor sentiment sept +16.3 vs +7.2 prev
- Cypriot president says capital controls to end in january 2014
An understandably low key session by and large but not one without opportunity once again as both the pound and yen found good buying interest ahead of the eagerly frenzily awaited main event later.
The early Nikkei rally sparked some life into USDJPY but it was all down hill again after the close which finished on a weaker note. EURJPY was a prime mover in the yen purchases with fund names being cited and we saw moves down to 131.86 and 98.79 before bouncing.
The BOE MPC’s minutes showed a 9-0 vote again but the report was generally upbeat and traders needed little excuse to squeeze every last drop out of it on what was always going to be a scrappy morning. GBPUSD jumped to 1.5960 fr0m 1.5925 prior forcing EURGBP down to 0.8370. The second wave saw cable start to chew into strong offers to post 1.5980 and EURGBP dropped to 8 month lows 0.8352 before GBP sellers/profit takers emerged. GBPJPY has also enjoyed a good ride to 158.18.
Little of note elsewhere with other pairs in tight ranges and EURUSD finding itself in the crossfire and pinned around 1.3350.
Bring on the Bernank !
