Europe Summary and Highlights 20 November
The JPY recovered some ground through the European morning, with USD/JPY dropping 60 pips from the open at 157.78 to a low of 157.17 before bouncing slightly to 157.35.
European morning session
The JPY recovered some ground through the European morning, with USD/JPY dropping 60 pips from the open at 157.78 to a low of 157.17 before bouncing slightly to 157.35. There was no obvious trigger for the move, but it was likely due to profit taking ahead of the US employment report with big gains being booked by JPY bears in recent days.
The USD was also generally slightly softer, with EUR/USD gaining 5 pips to 1.1525 and similar gains being seen in the other riskier currencies, but USD/CHF was little changed as EUR/CHF stretched recent gains to a high of 0.9297.
The only data was German PPI for October which was marginally stronger than expected at 0.1% m/m, -1.8% y/y.
Asia session
Fast approaching annual high, the JPY has received no mercy. Despite BOJ’s Koeda signals need for further tightening as inflation holds near 2%, a hawkish tilt from her previous vote to keep rates on hold, the fiscal worry on new stimulus package seems to have continue to weigh on JGB and see 10yr JGB yields searching for new high above 1.8%. USD/JPY is trading 0.24% higher at 157.52.
The risk sentiment broadly upbeat on Thursday, driven by strong NVidia earnings that beat estimate. Regional sentiment was also initially supported by stimulus hope from the Chinese government, though it fades as session progress while Nikkei kept the most gains. AUD/USD is trading 0..04% higher at 0.6481, NZD/USD is unchanged while USD/CAD rises 0.08%. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.19% and GBP/USD is down 0.05%.