Forex news and economic trading headlines 4 August 2016
News:
- BOE MPC Preview: Why a rate cut isn't a foregone conclusion
- What do you expect from Carney & Co and do you have a BOE trade up your sleeve?
- The GBPUSD levels to watch over the BOE
- BOJ ramps up the spending and buys ¥70.7bn in ETFs
- ECB says uncertainty about the global outlook has increased
- ECB's Weidmann says there is a possibility of adjusting bond-buying programme
- BOJ's Iwata says he doesn't think just increasing ETF purchases will be enough
- Japan's Ishihara says BOJ monetary policy has not been wrong
- London knife attack leaves 1 dead and 5 injured
- Australia's Turnbull says big banks will be brought before parliamentary economics committee each year
- Option expiries 10 am NY cut today 4 August
- Nikkei 225 closes up +1.07% at 16254.89
Data:
- Eurozone Markit retail PMI July 48.9 vs 48.5 prev
- Switzerland SECO consumer confidence July -15 vs -16 exp
It's all eyes on the BOE and pound as we wait on the interest rate/QE decision at the top of the hour.
We've seen a GBP retreat but the 1.3280 cable support held firm and we've now seen a retracement above 1.3335 with EURGBP falling back to 0.8346 after failing around 0.8385. What's gong on so far though is largely irrelevant to what will happen after 11.00 GMT
Elsewhere USDJPY had a solid rally to 101.67 as the Nikkei impressed after lunch only to fall back as yen demand returned while EURUSD has been mostly pinned down around 1.1135 caught up in the cross play crossfire.
USDCHF has looked underpinned again as EURCHF holds 1.0800 still and bounces with the SNB possibly having an impact. Couldn't be ruled out with EURGBP and EURJPY selling going through elsewhere.
AUDUSD has had another good session to take out decent offers/res at 0.7620 while USDCAD has been contained by a mix of USD, oil price and cross plays.
It's countdown time now though and we 'll see what Carney & Co have up their sleeve soon enough.
