Europe Summary and Highlights 13 March

European morning session

USD/JPY gained 40 pips to 148.20 and USD/CAD lost 30 pips to 1.4370, while EUR/SEK rose 7 figures to 11.05. None of these moves had any obvious fundamental triggers, and there was no data of any real significance. Swedish final February CPI was unrevised from the flash estimate at 1.3% y/y, and Eurozone industrial production was stronger than expected at 0.8% m/m in January, but neither had any noticeable market impact, with the rise in EUR/SEK coming well after the release of the CPI data. JPY weakness may reflect the modest rise seen in European equities through the session.

Asia session

There are more welcoming signs for the Japan spring wage negotiation as unions are asking for another historic hike circa 6%, which seems to have been accepted by most large enterprise. If more large business echoes and SMEs are able to catch up more than 50%, it would build a case for the BoJ to see inflation sustainably above 2%. USD/JPY is trading 0.25% lower at 147.85 as JGB outperform U.S. Treasury in yields. 

With little sign of improvement in the global macro picture, the reprieve in sentiment did not last as we see choppy trading in the equity space again on Thursday. U.S. Treasury Yields are lower across curve but does not seem to be attracting much bids in equities.  AUD/USD is trading 0.16% lower at 0.6310, NZD/USD is down 0.02% to 0.5728 while USD/CAD rose 0.12%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.05% and GBP/USD unchanged.