Forex news for the European trading session - 13 April 2018
Economic data:
- China March M2 money supply y/y +8.2% vs +8.9% expected
- Spain March final CPI m/m +0.1% vs +0.1% prelim
- Germany March final CPI m/m +0.4% vs +0.4% prelim
Headlines:
- Russia says that atmosphere around Syria is very alarming
- Germany says will do everything it can to maintain political pressure on Russia over Syria
- Italy's Lega leader Salvini says "stop bickering, otherwise another election is coming"
- S&P revises Japan outlook to 'positive'
- PBOC official says China's money supply is 'moderate'
- IEA says that OPEC's mission is nearly accomplished as oil glut vanishes
- Japan's Suga says it is important to create economic situation to raise sales tax
- Russia says international relations should not depend on one person's mood in the morning
Others:
- AUD leads on the day, JPY lags behind
- European equities mildly higher, US equity futures similar
- Gold is up by 0.46% to $1,340.86
- WTI up by 0.45% to $67.37
- US 10-year yields down by 0.5 bps to 2.83%
- Bitcoin up by 4.5% to $8,070
It wasn't a session about headlines, but the market moves were as though we had key fundamental changes. The dollar sits near the bottom of the major bloc - only the yen has been performing worse than the greenback on the day - with ranges relatively narrow against most major currencies, with the exception of the sterling and the aussie.
The euro sits in a tight range for the most part today, as it continues to ping pong between the 100 and 200-hour MA levels as mentioned here. Meanwhile, the yen continues to lag behind on the day after USD/JPY managed to find a clean break above 107.50.
The swissie meanwhile remains very much like the euro, sitting in a relatively narrow range for the most part of the day.
Commodity currencies raced forward despite the cautious tone in equities. The kiwi and loonie are posting modest gains so far but the big mover has been the aussie.
The AUD got a bit of a boost from China's trade data earlier and AUD/USD was poised for a break higher from a technical perspective. And indeed it got one, as it moved towards a test of the 100-day MA level before clearing it at current trading levels.
Lastly, the other key break in the day came from sterling after EUR/GBP continues to slide following a key break in the daily close yesterday. GBP/USD raced to test the year's highs and is threatening a close above a key resistance level that has so far stalled upside moves this year.
Cable continues to sit near the highs, so watch out for any extension of the move later on when US markets come into the fray.
