Forex news from the European trading session - 14 October 2020
Headlines:
- UK PM Johnson: Advice I have to day is that regional lockdowns can bring down virus spread
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 9 October -0.7% vs +4.6% prior
- Sterling continues with the Brexit see-saw as UK reportedly won't walk away from talks immediately
- Eurozone August industrial production +0.7% vs +0.8% m/m expected
- Germany's leading research institutes says economic recovery is losing steam
- EU leaders to say no breakthrough in Brexit talks - report
- Germany reports 5,132 new coronavirus cases in latest update today
Markets:
- GBP leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities lower; E-minis flat
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 0.717%
- Gold up 0.5% to $1,901.50
- WTI down 0.2% to $40.10
- Bitcoin down 0.2% to $11,407
It was a quiet session for the most part but Brexit headlines took the pound for a see-saw ride with the quid ultimately sitting higher currently.
An early report said EU leaders will state that there isn't enough for an agreement this week, and that sent the pound slumping from 1.2935 to a fresh one-week low of 1.2863.
The downside push retraced a little towards 1.2900 but then shot up to 1.2976 after Bloomberg reported that the UK will keep talks open beyond this week i.e. Boris Johnson set to walk back from his threat of pulling the plug after the European Council summit.
The pound consolidated gains around 1.2930 before pushing higher above its 200-hour moving average now to 1.2970-80 levels and nearing resistance around 1.2990-00.
Other major currencies kept more quiet and were little changed, with the aussie turning around a slight decline earlier as it moved from 0.7155 to 0.7180. But price action remains largely trapped around key near-term levels, so there isn't much to note.
EUR/USD is stuck within a 34 pips range as it moved around 1.1720-40 for the most part.
Meanwhile, risk trades were also more tepid as US futures gave up gains to stick closer to flat levels currently while European equities stayed a little more cautious throughout.
