Europe Summary and Highlights 1 October
Then JPY gained ground on the crosses through the European morning, with the USD lower against the JPY but higher against the EUR and mixed against the other riskier currencies.
European morning session
Then JPY gained ground on the crosses through the European morning, with the USD lower against the JPY but higher against the EUR and mixed against the other riskier currencies. GBP, NOK and AUD made marginal gains against the USD, while the CAD and CHF were both modestly lower. USD/JPY lost around 30 pips to 147.20, hitting a low just below 147, while EUR/USD gave up initial gains to finish 20 pips lower at 1.1735.
The market movement looked to be mostly related to the US government shutdown, with little news of note in the morning. Final European manufacturing PMIs provided only a marginal upward revision to the EU index, with no change in the UK from the preliminary reading. Eurozone September CPI came in as expected at 2.2% headline, 2.3% core.
Asia session
On Tuesday, we are seeing conflicting reports on China's ban of BHP iron ore. China Mineral Resources Group was reported to instruct related parties to halt purchase from the Australian BHP, one of the biggest mining company globally, which is later denied by Mysteel. However, the uncertainty is enough to keep a lid on the Aussie. AUD/USD is trading 0.17% lower at 0.6602 with a session low at 0.6589, NZD/USD is trading 0.14% higher at 0.5801 while USD/CAD slips 0.03%.
The Q3 Tankan report shows that Japanese firms are divided on the potential impact on U.S. tariffs. These large firms are also divided on business conditions on the dynamic of wage/price setting/consumption behavior. USD/JPY is trading 0.13% lower at 147.60. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.23% and GBP/USD up 0.16%.