Forex and Bitcoin news from the European morning trading session 21 Feb 2018
News:
- Ripple adds another big name to its growing network
- UK's May still wants a Brexit transition period of around 2 years
- Bitcoin tests 100-hour moving average as buyers bid for a move higher
- UK in broad agreement with EU on Brexit transition period
- Cable runs into familiar support area following UK labour report release
- UBS says that Weidmann is in pole position for ECB presidency
- ECB's Vasiliauskas says QE should be tapered, not ended abruptly
- EU's Centeno says that Euro area growth should be sustained in coming years
- Think the UK event risk is over for GBP pairs today? Then think again
- Australia: "Low wages for the ages"?
- FX option expiries for the 15.00 GMT cut - 21 Feb 2018
- A quick glance at the global manufacturing PMI by country
- Cable hangs on at the 200-hour MA as sterling slips ahead of UK data
- Aussie continues to lag behind as AUD/NZD posts fresh year lows
- Oil falls to session lows on the day, WTI down by 1.2%
- Jobs report for UK, PMIs for Europe and US, along with FOMC minutes
- European equity markets open lower 21 Feb
- Trading ideas for the European session 21 Feb
- Nikkei 225 closes higher by 0.21% at 21,970.81
Data:
- UK Dec average weekly earnings 3mth/year 2.5% vs 2.5% exp
- UK January public sector net borrowing -£11.6 bn vs -£11.4 bn expected
- Eurozone February prelim manufacturing PMI 58.5 vs 59.2 expected
- Germany Markit/BME Feb mftg PMI flash 60.3 vs 60.5 exp
- France February prelim manufacturing PMI 56.1 vs 58.0 expected
- Switzerland Jan M3 money supply yy 4.1% vs 3.6% prev
- Japan January supermarket sales y/y +0.6% vs +0.9% prior
- Japan December all industry activity index m/m +0.5% vs +0.4% expected
- Japan January nationwide department sales y/y -1.2% vs -0.6% prior
- ForexLive Asia FX news: Yen loses ground again in Asia today
USDJPY failed into 108.00 and has fallen back to 107.45 as I type while USDCHF has remained underpinned above 0.9350 albeit failing to breach 0.9400 again.
Elsewhere GBP pairs saw most of the volatility with a soggy UK jobs report and less than impressive wages ( steady but still behind inflation) giving GBPUSD a slap down to 1.3927 from early highs of 1.4000 area. EURGBP had held 0.8800 but then tested 0.8860 res/offers while GBPJPY fell to look at 149.75 from 150.20.
We're ranging though still and with various reports/leaks on Brexit transition period issues we've been back to 1.3950 before another test of 1.3900. GBJPY still a little soggy though as yen demand prevails.
EURUSD has been largely on the back foot again but option expiry defence in play around 1.2300 tempered by EURJPY supply.
