Forex news from the European trading session - 16 September 2021
Headlines:
- US retail sales in August set to reflect a drop, how would the market react?
- German conservatives remain considerably behind in latest polling data
- BOE now expected to hike rates in May 2022 - Goldman Sachs
- Recap: The key headlines from China so far this week
- ECB's Rehn says that rate hikes not yet in sight but it will happen one day
- Japan cuts economic assessment in September, first time in four months
- Evergrande risks but the tip of the iceberg?
Markets:
- NZD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
- US 10-year yields up 1.2 bps to 1.315%
- Gold down 1.0% to $1,774.70
- WTI down 0.2% to $72.50
- Bitcoin flat at $47,925
It was a quiet session for the most part with little headlines to work with but there were some decent and light moves overall in the market.
European indices opened higher and stuck with gains, catching back up to the late surge in Wall Street yesterday. US futures are more tepid and holding a touch lower though, awaiting the August retail sales report later at 1230 GMT.
Treasury yields are inching higher so that's helping to keep the dollar steadier on the day but we'll see how that changes after the economic releases in the US.
EUR/USD was a notable mover as it fell from 1.1810 to 1.1760 levels, the lowest in almost four weeks, before keeping around 1.1770 currently.
The franc is the laggard on the day with USD/CHF rising to a ten-week high from 0.9200 to 0.9250 as buyers look for a technical breakout.
Elsewhere, there were light moves overall with the aussie keeping lower after a poor jobs report with AUD/USD hovering around 0.7310-20 levels.
NZD/USD is trading higher amid more selling in AUD/NZD with the former keeping just above 0.7100 as the latter is trading to fresh lows for the year just below 1.0300.
The US retail sales report later today will arguably set the tone for the session ahead but if anything, we might be in for more of a push and pull ahead of the weekend still unless there is a significant technical break in play - which still does not look like it.
