Forex news from the European trading session - 13 April 2021
Headlines:
- US health agencies call for immediate pause of Johnson & Johnson vaccine
- US March NFIB small business optimism index 98.2 vs 98.5 expected
- Germany April ZEW survey current situation -48.8 vs -54.1 expected
- Bitcoin pierces through $62,000 to fresh record high
- BOJ's Kuroda says book value of BOJ ETF holdings is around ¥34-35 trillion
- UK February monthly GDP +0.4% vs +0.5% m/m expected
- Germany reports 10,810 new coronavirus cases, 294 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- USD leads, CAD lags on the day
- European equities slightly higher; E-minis down 0.4%
- US 10-year yields up 0.9 bps to 1.675%
- Gold down 0.2% to $1,729.63
- WTI up 0.5% to $60.00
- Bitcoin up 4.9% to $62,915
It was a quiet session for the most part as the market kept its attention on the US CPI release later in the day before the US pulled the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and that created some degree of risk aversion across all asset classes.
Treasury yields pulled higher initially to 1.70% but has fallen back just below 1.68% now after the vaccine news. This comes as US futures also fell by 0.4% after having kept steadier close to flat levels throughout European morning trade earlier.
The dollar started off with slight gains in Asia Pacific trading and pared that advance during the session before the vaccine news pushed it higher again.
EUR/USD moved up from 1.1883 to 1.1908 before easing back to 1.1890 levels now.
USD/JPY was marked lower from 109.70 to 109.30 before easing to a fresh low of 109.13 and then rebounding back to 109.50 ahead of the US inflation data.
The loonie is the biggest loser as USD/CAD from 1.2580 to keep at session highs around 1.2620 levels now, closing in on short-term resistance @ 1.2630-47.
Despite the dent to the vaccine optimism, this is likely to prove to be more of a hiccup than a game changer. Nonetheless, amid anxiety ahead of earnings season and the US CPI release later, equity investors are taking some money off the table for now.
