North American Summary and Highlights 8 April
Overview - FX was volatile with no clear direction, as equities failed to sustain a stronger opening.
North American session
Equities saw a strong opening on speculation trade deals could be made with individual countries to reduce tariff rates. However, the gains were erased, firstly hit by US Trade Representative Greer stating that there would be no near-term exceptions from tariffs, and secondly as the US confirmed tariffs on China would be raised to 104% overnight. This saw front end UST yields lower, but yields increased at the long end.
USD/JPY rose to 147.50 then fell back to 146.25, AUD/USD rose to .6080 before falling to .5960. USD/CAD rebounded to 1.4250 from 1.4150. EUR/USD again found support below 1.09 and recovered to 1.0950. EUR/CHF was weaker, falling below .93, but a dip in EUR/GBP was erased as GBP/USD failed to hold above 1.28. A deal to form a centrist coalition government was achieved in Germany.
European morning session
The JPY was the best performer in the European morning, with USD/JPY dropping half a figure to 147.10, while the EUR was the worst performer, with EUR/USD dropping half a figure to 1.0920. The EUR was also generally lower on the crosses, except against the scandis. USD/CHF and AUD/USD were not much changed, and GBP/USD moved lower but EUR/GBP also fell 15 pips.
There wasn’t much in the way of news. Equity indices edging slightly lower but yields were mixed. Late in the session the US NFIB survey showed a further modest decline in confidence in March, but price expectations fell back slightly, with the survey not capturing the current tariff concerns.