FX News Today
European Fixed Income Outlook: Asian markets headed south in tandem with U.S. futures, after sentiment turned sour once again during the European session yesterday and yields resumed their uptrend. The Topix closed with a loss of -0.7265, after gaining more than 2% yesterday. The Hang Seng was down -0.23% as of 6:40GMT, while mainland China remained closed for a holiday. EGB yields moved broadly higher at the start of the week, with core markets outperforming and stock markets correcting as risk aversion picked up again. Trading was quieter than usual with U.S. and Canada on holiday and Hong Kong and China among others closed during the Asian session. Japanese stocks still managed to rally, but while European markets opened slightly higher, they quickly pared gains and as of 15:44GMT the GER30 was down -0.40%, the UK100 down -0.51%. Italian stock and bond markets underperformed as the election casts is shadows. The 10-year Bund gained 2.8 bp today and is at 0.73%, the Gilt is up 1.6 bp at 1.597%, while the Italian 10-year is up 6.8 bp at 2.044%. The short end outperformed and 2-year yields are down -0.1 bp in Germany and up a mere 0.7 bp in the U.K., leaving the curve steeper. Traders are looking to U.S. auctions and FOMC minutes for the Jan meeting for direction, as markets remain volatile amid the gradual withdrawal of central bank support. European finance ministers gathered for Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings but with Ireland withdrawing of central bank head Lane for Constancio’s position as vice president the way is free for Spanish economy minister Guindos to take over.
FX Update: The dollar continued to hold firm, extending the same theme for a second day. This came with 2-year U.S. Treasury yields rising to a near 10-year high in Asia today, and with stock market sentiment having soured somewhat following a week-long rebound. The USD index (DXY) posted a four-session high of 89.44, extending the rebound from Friday’s 37-monnth low to 1.4%. EURUSD remained heavy after logging four-session low at 1.2369 yesterday. USDJPY lifted for a third straight session, this time logging a four-session high of 106.95, extending the rebound from the 15-month low seen last Thursday at 105.54. EURJPY and other yen crosses are also firmer, though by a lesser magnitude than USDJPY with a broader bid in the dollar also been at play. The yen’s past inverse correlation with stock market direction has remained absent, with equity markets in Asia turning lower today, following the souring in sentiment that was seen during the PM session on European bourses yesterday. The dollar also traded firmer versus the likes of the baht, Singapore dollar and rand, along with most other newly developed and developing-world currencies. One exception was the Australian dollar ,which outperformed today, posting a 0.4% gain versus the yen, and a 0.2% rise against the U.S. buck.
Charts of the Day
Main Macro Events Today
- German ZEW Economic Sentiment – a dip in the German ZEW Investor Sentiment expected to 16.2 from 20.4 in January.
- EU Consumer Confidence – is expected to correct to 1.0 from 1.3 in January.
- NZ GDT Price Index
Support and Resistance levels
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Andria Pichidi
Market Analyst
HotForex
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