Europe Summary and Highlights 12 February

European morning session

A quiet European morning saw EUR/USD edge up 15 pips to 1.0375, while AUD/USD lost 15 pips to 0.6275. USD/CAD was also firmer, at 1.4310 from 1.4295. But the biggest movers were the scandis, with EUR/NOK rising 6 figures to 11.67 and EUR/SEK up 4 figures to 11.29.

There was no obvious rationale for any of these moves, with little movement in bond yields or equities, and the modest decline in the oil price comes after a few days of gains so has limited significance for the NOK. There was a small rise in Swedish unemployment reported at the beginning of the session, and some comments from then Riksbank’s Bunge, but these came after the main SEK decline. The SEK weakness looks more likely to be a technical corrective move after the EUR/SEK declines in the past week.

Asia session

The Japan Industry Minister has requested the US exclude Japan from steel & aluminum tariffs but it looks unlikely until there is further commitment from Japan's investment plan into the U.S.. USD/JPY continues its rebound from sub-150 figure as USD gained strength from tariff man's negotiation tactics. USD/JPY is trading 0.74% higher at 153.62. It is worth noticing that 10yr JGB yields continue to march towards new decade high, which may curb the pair's gains in a medium run.

The broad equity market are performing individually on Wednesday as HSI leads while U.S. and Chinese equity indexes lagged. Trump said that "we'll see" when asked if reciprocal tariffs are coming Wednesday, continue to play along with his tariff negotiation tactic and keep the risk sentiment volatile. AUD/USD is down 0.07% to 0.6290, NZD/USD is unchanged while USD/CAD rose 0.09% as oil slips. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.04% and GBP/USD is down 0.02%.