Forex news from the European trading session - 5 May 2021
Headlines:
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 30 April -0.9% vs -2.5% prior
- Fed's Williams: No signs that bond buying is creating financial sector imbalances
- Oil continues stellar advance this week, eyes March highs
- European stocks pull higher, US futures keep with gains so far on the session
- Eurozone April final services PMI 50.5 vs 50.3 prelim
- Switzerland April CPI +0.3% vs +0.3% y/y expected
- Germany reports 18,034 new coronavirus cases, 285 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- NZD leads, CHF lags on the day
- European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
- US 10-year yields up 1.6 bps to 1.608%
- Gold flat at $1,778.66
- WTI up 1.0% to $66.37
- Bitcoin up 0.7% to $55,169
There weren't any major headlines on the session as the risk looks to brush aside the setback yesterday, building on the late bounce in US stocks at the time.
US futures are pointing to modest gains while European indices are rebounding after having slumped in yesterday's session, posting a little over 1% gains for the most part.
In FX, major currencies remain more mixed with the dollar trading steadier while commodity currencies are leading gains for now. The kiwi was bolstered by a strong NZ labour market report and kept higher with NZD/USD nearing 0.7200.
AUD/USD also moved up from a low of 0.7705 to 0.7742 before gains stalled at its 100-hour moving average, while USD/CAD kept a slight push lower around 1.2270-80.
EUR/USD stays little changed in and around 1.2000 after having fallen to a low of 1.1986 - its lowest since 19 April - during the session amid some light push and pull.
Treasury yields are a touch higher but not really running anywhere, as the market continues to take in inflation developments and how that may all play out moving forward.
10-year breakevens are at their highest since 2013 though, seen at around 2.43%.
