Europe Summary and Highlights 15 Jan
The USD was mixed through the European morning, losing ground to the JPY and AUD but gaining against GBP.
European morning session
The USD was mixed through the European morning, losing ground to the JPY and AUD but gaining against GBP. GBP initially rose slightly following stronger than expected 0.3% rise in November UK GDP data, which showed a 0.3% m/m gain in services and a 1.1% gain in industrial production, but these gains were more than reversed by the end of the session, with EUR/GBP finishing around 10 pips higher at 0.8670. The higher than expected £23.7bn UK November trade deficit may have contributed to the reversal.
EUR/USD was not much changed, but the SEK gained a little with EUR/SEK down 2 figures to 10.68.
Asia session
Metal is falling on Thursday's Asia session as geopolitical tension somewhat eases on Trump's remark that he spoke with Venezuela’s interim president on oil, minerals and security. It seems to indicate Trump has no intention to directly intervene in Iran with U.S. military. Moreover, he ordered the Commerce Department and the Office of the USTR to negotiate agreements on processed critical minerals. It seems to drive the price of metal significantly lower as it expels the story of Chinese blockade, just for the sake of short term sentiment bids. Along with the fall in metals, AUD/USD fell by 0.05% to 0.6679, NZD/USD is trading 0.17% lower at 0.5738 while USD/CAD rises 0.1%.
We have the usual rhetoric from BoJ Governor Ueda, suggesting more rate hike if forecast hold. He sounds optimistic about the current wage/price setting dynamics, which is the key driver of sustainable inflation growth. The JPY's correction did not gain further momentum on Thursday as we see USD/JPY little changed. USD/JPY is trading unchanged at 158.42, still hovering at recent high. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.05% and GBP/USD is down 0.13%.