Forex news from the European morning session 15 Jan

News:

  • China's Li says there is no basis for further yuan devaluation
  • It's all kicking off again as oil trades below $30 per barrel
  • USDCAD soars as stops triggered through 1.4400
  • Only calm heads will make money in USDCAD right now - forex technical analysis
  • EU's Dombrovskis says France failing to deliver on structural reforms
  • EU's Dombrovskis says they are ready to start Greek reforms review as soon as possible
  • Mr Yen says BOJ may ease further at the end of 2016
  • Goldman Sachs keeps H1 2016 WTI oil outlook around $40 per barrel
  • South African government working hard to produce credible budget
  • Germany's Schaeuble says border closure would bring a big problem for Europe
  • Greek bank withdrawal limit could soon be raised
  • Option expiries 10am NY cut 15 Jan
  • ICYMI - The ForexLive 2016 Top 10 forecasts are still available

Data:

  • November 2015 UK construction output -0.5% vs 0.5% exp m/m
  • November 2015 Eurozone trade balance €23.6bn vs €23.0bn exp NSA
  • Nikkei 225 closes down 0.54% at 17147.11

It's been yet another lively session with Chinese equities tumbling again, further oil price losses and USDCAD surging to 1.4530 from 1.4390 in under 3 minutes.Yes folks, the great roller-coaster ride continues.

Chinese equities slid after lunch to post losses of 4% adding to Nikkei wobbles and USDJPY failed into 118.00 before falling back to 117.25 but while all that was going on oil was heading south again but still above $30 for both Brent and WTI.

Then out of the blue while Europe was still wiping the sleep from its eyes came the sharp USDCAD move and traders were left scratching their heads in disbelief. Talk of barrier option levels being flushed out and bleached confirmed my view that someone had used the exceptionally thin liquidity at that time to make their move.

The pair jumped to 1.4530 from 1.4390 only to fall straight back into 1.4450 before finally breaching 1.4500 again as oil fell through $30. CAD pairs across the board saw similarly related movement.

Elsewhere European equities traded lower and the euro enjoyed some related support and with EURUSD contained by large option expiries in play today. EURGBP rallies capped GBPUSD again and finally we took out the 1.4350 support triggering stop losses to 1.4338 before testing 1.4350 again and then lows of 1.4330.

USDCHF had early falls to 1.0020 as EURUSD rallied but has since recovered some poise as the latter finds supply at 1.0920 and with EURCHF still supported in the dips.

AUDUSD and NZDUSD have both seen further falls through 0.6900 and 0.6400 respectively but have been caught up in the cross fire too.

No real data of note in this session but the US brings retail sales and others to also add some fuel to this ever increasing fire.