Forex news from the European session 16 September

News:

  • ECB's Constancio says there is scope to increase QE if necessary
  • S&P downgrades Japanese sovereign rating to A+/A-1
  • OECD urges Fed to hike interest rates
  • France's Sapin maintains +1% GDP forecast for 2015
  • Commerzbank say Draghi is more important than Yellen for central and eastern Europe
  • ECB plan to cut capital ratios at the request of French banks
  • ECB economic bulletin highlights fiscal impact of financial sector support during crisis
  • Japan's Suga says he expects the Fed to take "appropriate action"
  • BOJ Monthly Report Sept: Q3 industrial output to be flat y/y
  • SAB Miller and AB Inbev M&A talk keeps the bid in the pound
  • BOE MPC hawks stepping up to testify to UK lawmakers
  • UK labour data may be enough to see more MPC members voting for hikes at next meeting
  • Pound loving the UK wages data
  • Option expiries 10am NY cut today 16 Sept

Data:

  • August 2015 UK labour market report claimant count +1.2k vs -5.0k exp
  • August 2015 Eurozone HICP final 0.1% vs 0.2% exp y/y
  • US MBA mortgage market index 430.8 vs 430.8 prior
  • Switzerland CS ZEW expectations +9.7 vs 5.9 prev
  • Japan machine tool orders August final yy -16.5% vs -16.5% prev
  • Nikkei 225 closes up +0.81% at 18,171.60

A busy session that has seen mixed fortunes for the euro and pound

The session began with the greenback on a firmer note with USDJPY supported above 120.00 and GBPUSD on the backfoot down to 1.5330 and EURUSD 1.1285 drifting off into 1.1250 support only to fail first time

Cue the comments from ECB VP Constancio and the euro had another wobble, albeit limited at first. Come the Eurozone CPI downward revision later and the retreat has accelerated with EURUSD now on session lows at 1.1217, EURJPY lows of 135.15

EURGBP has now fallen to 0.7270 from early highs of 0.7357 exacerbated by strong UK wages and jobs data which has seen solid gains for the pound across the board. GBPUSD has posted 1.5435 so far from those 1.5330, second wave buying seeing it take out good offers/res into 1.5400

USDJPY has remained underpinned but failed to breach good offers/res at 120.50 before finally busting through to post 120.61 while USDCHF has been supported at 0.9720 but with rallies above 0.9750 tempered by EURCHF selling down to 1.0938

AUDUSD looked good for another run higher and indeed climbed to 0.7184 before running into fresh sellers and heading back below 0.7150, while USDCAD has once again traded tightly with good demand into 1.3200 but decent supply at 1.3260. NZDUSD also enjoyed a run higher early on but failed at 0.6378 before retreating to test support at 0.6330

US CPI data out at 12.30 GMT will be keenly awaited and this day promises more spills n thrills ahead