Forex trading headlines from the European morning session 24 April
News:
- ECB’s Draghi says any worsening of inflation outlook may lead to asset buying
- ECB may reflect on frequency of governing council meetings
- SNB’s Danthine says interest rate policy not at their disposal
- IFO’s Wohlrabe says Ukraine crisis currently having no impact on German economy
- US – Japan trade agreement nearing completion
- Japan’s Amari says progress made in trade talks but problems remain
- Nikkei recovers a few losses caused by US-Japan trade deal still not concluded
Ukraine:
- Ukrainian forces take control of checkpoint north of Slaviansk
- Russia’s Putin says there will be consequences if Ukraine used army against its own people
- Obama says there will be further sanctions on Russia if they do not abide by Geneva accord
- Russia’s Lavrov says he expects Geneva deal on Ukraine will soon be implemented in practical actions
- Russia’s Lavrov says first steps to resolve Ukraine crisis must be taken by Kiev
Data:
- German IFO business climate April 111.2 vs 110.5 exp
- Swiss trade balance March CHF +2.050 bln vs +2.139 bln exp
- UK CBI distributive trades survey April +30 vs +17 exp
- Italian global trade balance March EUR +2.702 bln vs +1.369 bln prev
- French business climate index April 100 vs 100 exp
- Nikkei closes down -0.97% at 14,404.99
- Shanghai Composite Index closes down 0.5% at 2057.03
A strange morning that got off to gentle start, had a couple of flurries but ends up little changed on the session.
GBPUSD had an early move up to 1.6800 from 1.6782 but then ran into fresh sellers ahead of some upbeat IFO assessment which saw the euro find some upward momentum.
EURUSD lifted to 1.3843 from 1.3827, EURGBP 0.8244 from 0.8230 and EURJPY 141.79 from 141.57 before the Draghster nipped those gains in the bud with a repeated line of possible QE/euro fx rate increasingly important mantra. Down we came to 1.3815, 0.8228 and 141.45 and we’ve been camped around those levels since. The same pattern was seen on euro pairs across the board apart from EURCHF which as been super-glued to 1.2204.
Much rhetoric on Ukraine and some action too but the market has opted to react with minimal concern for safe-haven and indeed we’ve seen gold fall over 1% to $1270. USDCHF and USDJPY have traded in tight ranges as as AUDUSD but the kiwi has given up its post-RBNZ gains dropping from 0.8622 to 0.8557. USDCAD has drifted lower to 1.1015 from 1.1030 but all painfully slow still.
So, a strange morning indeed and one that continues to make us wonder where the next trend or even some volatility on the majors is going to spring from.