Europe Summary and Highlights 7 March
European currencies continued to gain ground in the European morning.
European morning session
European currencies continued to gain ground in the European morning. EUR/USD rose 40 pips to 1.0865 with the CHF and scandis keeping pace. GBP/USD also rose 25 pips to 1.2925, but EUR/GBP rose 10 pips to 0.8405. USD/JPY was net little changed near 147.50, while AUD/USD edged slightly higher.
Datawise, Eurozone Q4 GDP was revised up slightly to 0.2% q/q, with employment growth of 0.1%. German factory orders fell a sharp 7% in January following the 5.9% December gain, but the underlying trend remains fairly flat.
Asia session
Regional sentiment started on a sour note on Friday's Asia session. It seems to be a reactive offer from the overnight U.S. equities performance. Nikkei is currently leading the losses while HSI and Chinese equities reversed earlier losses. U.S. three major equity indexes have their toes in the green after the slump on Thursday. AUD/USD is down 0.42% to 0.6306, NZD/USD also 0.36% lower at 0.5714 while USD/CAD rose 0.06%.
The USD/JPY is fast approaching Thursday's low at 147.30 as risk sentiment stays sour. The U.S. Treasury are lower while 10yr JGB yields are back in the green. Combined with Japan Economy Minister Ryosei Akazawa preparing to officially declare an end to long-term deflation, it looks like there are more downside to the pair. Japan's Finance Minister Kato's verbal intervention seems to be a reactive mechanic on JPY volatility rather than him being against JPY strength as BoJ have kept the weak JPY's impact towards the Japanese economy in mind in the past meetings. USD/JPY is trading 0.22% lower at 147.66. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.28% and GBP/USD is up 0.05%.