- Japan Jan Consumer Confidence Index 44.3 vs last 43.3
- German Feb CPI as expected at 0.60%
- German Feb Wholesale Prices 0.10%, 1.40% y/y
- French Jan Current Account – Eur 5.0bn , December now revised to – Eur 3.8bn
- Swedish Feb CPI +0.40% as expected, – 0.20% y/y
- Italian Feb CPI 0.10% as expected, 1.90% y/y
- UK Jan Industrial Output – 1.20% vs exp + 0.10%, y/y -2.90% vs exp – 1.10%
- UK Jan Manufacturing Output – 1.50% vs exp o.00%, y/y – 3.00% vs exp – 1.10%
- UK Trade Balance – £ 8.195bn vs exp – £ 9.0bn
The session’s excitement came after a quietish start with euro sitting sidelined near 1.3000 being the target of optionality at the NY cut. EURUSD has traded inside 1.2990 – 1.3015 for the morning.European data all came out as expected and was suitably ignored.
USDJPY commenced a gentle decent from an Asian high of 96.72 with EURJPY coming from the high 125.00s; after stalling some 30 and 50 pips lower respectively the European market decided to ensure some profit and drove the pairs down to lows of 95.66 and 124.38; word was hedge fund selling and Asian buyers. As we close the session the recovery is looking promising.
Yet more disastrous economic indicators for the UK proceeded to slam sterling further into the trenches and at the time of reporting there has only been marginal recovery. Further nails in the coffin as cable hits it’s lowest since June 2010.
All sterling pairs suffered but at least the suffering was swift: cable was knocked to a low of 1.4831, EURGBP tore through 0.8750 to a high of 0.8778, and GBPAUD hit an all-time low of 1.4410.
The antipodeans enjoyed a healthy Asian session and retained their favour; the Aussie dollar looks particularly well.
