Europe Summary and Highlights 12 March
The JPY continued to correct lower through the European morning.
European morning session
The JPY continued to correct lower through the European morning. USD/JPY gained another 30 pips to 148.70, while the USD was otherwise generally slightly softer, with EUR/USD up around 10 pips to 1.0910, and similar modest gains for other Europeans. The CAD was the best performer through the session, with USD/CAD falling around half a figure from opening levels to 1.4415.
The generally more risk positive tone was helped by news that Ukraine would support a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which also helped to produce a recovery in European equities.
Asia session
Apart from the trade fiasco with U.S., the focus for Japan will likely be on the spring wage negotiation. The early discussion seems to be brewing for strong result with Labor union group Rengo asking for a 6.09% wage increase and large firms like Denso seems to have accepted the suggestion. USD/JPY is trading 0.26% higher as USD is broadly higher on Wednesday's Asia session with U.S. Treasury Yields opening lower and JGB yields moderating the opening gains.
The broad sentiment seems to be calmer on Wednesday despite Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs go into effect. The market seems to be content with Trump not going over 25% for now and see U.S. major equity indexes taking a breather after a week of bloodbath. AUD/USD is down 0.16% to 0.6288, NZD/USD is also down 0.23% to 0.5703 while USD/CAD rose 0.11%. Canada has warned of oil export restrictions to the U.S. after Trump threatened of raising tariffs to 50% on aluminum and steel. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.19% and GBP/USD is down 0.21%.