Forex news from the European morning session 15 Mar

News:

UK:

  • Latest Brexit poll result undermines the pound again
  • The Brexit stories are stacking up to weigh on GBP

BOJ:

  • BOJ's Kuroda will continue with negative rates as long as needed to reach inflation goal
  • More from Kuroda: Need some time to watch impact of negative interest rates
  • Kuroda says inflation expectations have weakened since start of 2016
  • Kuroda says MRF change is not a retraction of BOJ policy
  • BOJ MRF exemption move comes as no big surprise

General:

  • ECB's Villeroy says its policies are working
  • Fitch affirms Australia at AAA, outlook stable
  • Option expiries 10am NY cut today 15 March
  • More option expiries of note this week
  • News of a car explosion in Berlin - Livesquawk
  • Nikkei 225 closes down -0.68% at 17,117.07

Data:

  • France CPI Feb final mm +0.3% vs +0.2% exp
  • Italy HICP Feb final yy -0.2% as expected

It was all eyes on Japan to start with but attention soon turned closer to home as Brexit became the buzzword yet again.

The BOJ had left rates on hold albeit with a few tweaks and the presser did little to add an more colour to the page. Year-end yen demand though is still in play and from 113.38 we saw USDJPY drift off to 112.95 dragging other core pairs with it.

GBPUSD had an early look at 1.4250 but held before then getting another shove through as the euro caught a bid on softer equities which then took EURGBP through 0.7817. The pound then fell further as stories started to circulate of latest Brexit poll showing the Leave camp ahead and the rot set in. We saw further EURGBP demand to 0.7839, GBPJPY supply to 160.00 both adding to take cable down to 1.4147 so far. A soggy morning for the pound which shows its current fragility after only yesterday looking to consolidate some gains.

EURUSD didn't have a lot in the way of a move back to test decent support around 1.1080 but as first refusal saw rally back to 1.1115 before giving up again. USDJPY remains on the back foot as does USDCHF so we're seeing some risk-on sentiment again as oil and commodities turn sharply lower again.

AUDUSD has had a double whammy on softer commodities and yen demand and seen a test of 0.7450 from 0.7520 while USDCAD has enjoyed another ride up from the 1.3280 support to post 1.3400 before retreating.

NZDUSD remains on the back foot at 0.6640 with the latest GDT auction result awaited.

US retail sales, PPI and NY Empire State data all out an hour earlier ( for non-NA traders) at 12.30 GMT.

A busy session ahead.