Forex news and economic headlines 21 April 2016
News:
- China will further support steel and coal exports
- China's March crude oil imports from Russia +57.9% yy to 1.09m bpd
- Japan's steel industry express concerns over resurgence in Chinese steel and exports
- OPEC's El-Badri sees oil market rebalancing in 2016
- Doha or No Doha, we see that the market is turning says El-Badri
- Sweden's Riksbank leaves rates on hold as expected but adds more QE
- Eurozone and EU28 government deficit at 2.1% and 2.4% of GDP for 2015
- Preview: Is the Super Mario Magic Show going to please or disappoint?
- Here's how to trade the ECB meeting
- Shaky pound shrugs off retail relapse
- Option expiries 10am NY cut today 21 April
- Nikkei 225 closes up +2.7% at 17,363.62
Data:
- UK retail sales March mm -1.3% vs -0.1% exp
- UK PSNBR March GBP 4.2bln vs 5.4bln exp
- France April manufacturing confidence 104 vs 101 exp
- Switzerland trade balance March +CHF2.16 bln vs +CHF4.02 bln prev
- Japan March supermarket sales yy -0.3% vs +3.4% prev
It's been a session that's had traders looking ahead to the ECB announcements but there's been plenty going on in the meantime.
USDJPY failed into 110.00 in Asia and was already in retreat despite the Nikkei holding gains and that USD softness spread elsewhere which saw EURUSD pop above 1.1300 and GBPUSD testing 1.4350.
Short lived though and pound was already in retreat when awful UK retail sales data sent cable to 1.4300 and EURGBP to 0.7900 both key interim levels. Failure to breach sent pound shorts running for cover ahead of the ECB risk and we've seen a strong rally to 1.4380 and 0.7863
EURUSD meanwhile has been underpinned with EURCHF demand suggesting the SNB might know a bit about what's to come.
USDCAD has rallied on softer oil price action while AUDUSD and NZDUSD have both retreated after failing to breach decent resistance.
It's all about the ECB now so tighten your belts and enjoy the ride.
