Forex news from the European morning session - 19 March 2021
Headlines:
- German vaccine authority says AstraZeneca vaccine can be used again as previously recommended
- German health minister: Rising infections could mean not being able to relax restrictions in coming weeks
- BOJ to disclose details of JGB purchase operations on 31 March
- BOJ's Kuroda: Does not think current FX moves deviate from fundamentals
- BOJ's Kuroda: Not thinking about widening JGB yields band for now
- BOJ's Kuroda: We did not expand the yields band with today's decision
- Germany reports 17,482 new coronavirus cases, 226 deaths in latest update today
- Nikkei sinks, Topix surges on BOJ ETF decision
- BOJ policy review: Drops 6 tln yen ETF buy target, maintains 12tln yen ceiling
Markets:
- JPY leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 1.685%
- Gold up 0.3% to $1,741.20
- WTI up 0.2% to $60.10
- Bitcoin up 2.3% to $58,802
It was a relatively quiet and mixed session as we gear towards a potentially more noisy end to the week on yet another quadruple witching Friday.
The BOJ sent out some mixed signals as they widened the 10-year JGB yields band, although Kuroda came out to claim that that is not the case as it has been part of their policy all along; whilst also clarifying the central bank's stance on the ETF guidance change.
The yen didn't respond all too much with USD/JPY hugging 108.70-80 levels for the most part on the session, as the dollar also held steadier across the board.
Major currencies aren't doing a whole lot, with narrower ranges playing out. EUR/USD stuck around 1.1890-05 levels after a bit of a drop from 1.1910-15 earlier on.
Commodity currencies also showed little poise to move as risk sentiment is keeping on the more tepid side after the declines in US equities yesterday.
S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are slightly higher while Dow futures are little changed.
Elsewhere, 10-year Treasury yields are reflecting some calm as it keeps a little lower but the shallow pullback isn't leading to much comfort ahead of US trading.
US-China talks in Alaska are set to continue later today but that is more of a sideshow as the market will be looking to brave through the potential surge in volume later today.
Happy witch-hunting and a great weekend to all!
