Forex news from the European trading session - 2 September 2021
Headlines:
- US August Challenger layoffs 15.7k vs 18.9k prior
- Eurozone July PPI +2.3% vs +1.1% m/m expected
- Bitcoin tracks back above the $50,000 mark
- Switzerland Q2 GDP +1.8% vs +1.9% q/q expected
- New Zealand says latest COVID-19 case figures show that lockdown is working
- Switzerland August CPI +0.9% vs +0.8% y/y expected
Markets:
- AUD and NZD lead, USD lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields down 1.3 bps to 1.289%
- Gold up 0.1% to $1,815.72
- WTI up 0.6% to $69.01
- Bitcoin up 3.8% to $50,091
It was a quiet and uneventful session in European morning trade today as markets settled into more of a lull ahead of the US non-farm payrolls release tomorrow.
Risk sentiment kept steadier with US futures pointing to gains once again, helping to see broader risk trades take some additional comfort on the week.
In FX, the antipodeans lead the way with the aussie nearing resistance close to 0.7400 against the dollar, up from around 0.7370 to start the day.
Meanwhile, NZD/USD pushed up from 0.7075 to 0.7090 levels as buyers are looking to contest a push above its 100-day moving average, seen at 0.7081.
The dollar was more tepid and is trading little changed overall as EUR/USD inches a little higher from 1.1840 to 1.1850 (still trading within a 20 pips range though).
The pound is also holding slight gains as cable makes its way to test 1.3800.
Besides the light moves highlighted above, there was little for traders to work with on the session with the bond market also not offering much so far.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin is taking another peek above $50,000 so that is one to watch in the crypto space while oil is up slightly to $69 as buyers keep the faith after the OPEC+ meeting decision to stick with the planned 400k bpd monthly increase yesterday.
