Forex news from the European morning session - 29 April 2019
Headlines:
- UK PM spokesman: A way forward in talks with Labour has yet to be found
- Eurozone April final consumer confidence -7.9 vs -7.9 prelim
- Eurozone March M3 money supply +4.5% vs +4.2% y/y expected
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 26 April CHF 576.7 bn vs CHF 576.9 bn prior
- Italian bonds rally at the open after S&P refrains from downgrade
- ICYMI: US-Japan trade deal in May? Yes or no?
Markets:
- AUD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities lower; E-minis flat
- US 10-year yields up 0.5 bps to 2.504%
- Gold down 0.4% to $1,281.10
- WTI down 0.4% to $63.07
- Bitcoin up 0.9% to $5,141
It was a quiet session as markets hold steady to start the new week. There was no flash crash in thin liquidity during Asian trading (remember, Japanese markets will be closed until next Tuesday) and that basically could've been the key headline as we gear towards North American trading in a few hours.
The dollar is holding steady after a bit of a decline on Friday following the US Q1 GDP report. EUR/USD is near unchanged levels around 1.1155 as it moved rangebound between 1.1150-70 on the session. Meanwhile, cable advanced in early trades to 1.2947 as the pound gathered some steam before giving that all up in the last hour falling to 1.2920 levels.
The aussie and kiwi also gained slightly earlier on with the former seeing some month-end exporter bids, with AUD/USD treading between 0.7050-60 for the most part. However, trading ranges remain modest so there isn't any key breaks as risk sentiment remains rather subdued as well awaiting Wall Street to lead the way.
USD/JPY picked up some gains in the early morning as Treasury yields inched higher earlier. The pair moved up from 111.60 to 111.70 levels but once again, the trading range remains rather modest as major currencies are relatively steady so far on the day.
Looking ahead, we'll have more US inflation data as we will have the PCE deflator readings but they should just tell us the same story that we saw on Friday from the release of the Q1 GDP report since these will be for readings up until the month of March.
