Forex news from the European morning session 19 March 2015
News:
- SNB keeps interest rates on hold
- SNB says CHF still highly overvalued and should continue to weaken over time
- SNB's Jordan says there are no real alternatives to negative rates
- SNB's Jordan won't comment on FX interventions
- No demands for board to resign after cap removal says Jordan
- SNB went very far with deposit rate cut says Jordan
- Swiss govt says temporary downturn possible
- Germany's Merkel says tough path remains ahead for Greece to overcome crisis
- ECB says QE is already easing financial conditions in Eurozone
- Norway keeps interest rates on hold
- BOJ's Kuroda says it's too early to discuss details of any exit strategy
- Japan's Abe says wage increases are vital for positive economic cycle
- ECB TLTRO no.3 totals €97.848
- Option expiries 10am NY cut 19 March
Data:
- Swiss trade balance Feb CHF +2.47bln vs +3.41bln prev
- Q4 2014 Eurozone labour costs 1.1% vs 1.3% prior y/y
- UK mortgage lending fell 9% in Feb says CML
- Japanese nationwide department store sales yy Feb +1.1% vs -2.8% prev
- Nikkei 225 closes down -0.35% at 19,476.56
What doesn't stay up must come down again, and today we've seen the euro plummet as last night's thin liquidity post-FOMC moves reversed, and some, with CHF buyers also appearing after the SNB left interest rates on hold
The euro moves started their wobble in Asia but gathered pace as Europe opened up for business and we've moved from 1.0780 to 1.0645 before finding a few buyers, similarly EURGBP dropped sharply to 0.7180 from 0.7240, then again to 0.7152 before looking at 0.7200 again. EURJPY fell from 130.00 to 128.60 before also finding a few buyers. Similar moves in all /most euro pairs
Eyes were also on the SNB and we saw USDCHF rise early on the USD demand to 0.9965 from 0.9880 only to then drop back to 0.9885 as interest were left on hold and nasty Mr Jordan sprang no other surprises. EURCHF was on the back foot all morning but has run into support at 1.0550 from 1.0685.
GBPUSD falls were tempered by the EURGBP drop but we've still seen a move back to 1.4800 from 1.4900 and overall the pound has seen good two-way business
USDJPY once again has been caught up in the cross fire and edged up into 120.80 res from 120.20 while yen crosses have been down,up,down,up, in sprightly fashion
USDCAD enjoyed some loving from 1.2600 to 1.2710 pausing for breath around 1.2660 while AUDUSD and NZDUSD have both been under the cosh from 0.7740 to 0.7650 and 0.7460 to 0.7385 respectively as the USD demand prevails
So it's been a blink-and-you-miss-it rollercoaster ride since the FOMC as reality check gives way to knee-jerk emotion
But it's not over yet by a long way.
