European Summary and Highlights 27 Feb
USD/JPY fell around 25 pips to 150.25, but the USD was otherwise not much changed through the European morning.
European morning session
USD/JPY fell around 25 pips to 150.25, but the USD was otherwise not much changed through the European morning. EUR/USD was initially a little firmer edging up around 10 pips from the open near 1.0850, but softer than expected French consumer confidence data and weaker than expected Eurozone money growth helped the EUR to return to opening levels.
Otherwise, the AUD and CAD were both marginally firmer, and the scandis slightly weaker, but without any clear rationale. Equities edged a little higher, while bond yields were slightly softer.
Asia session
The January National CPI, all three items, stays above 2% BoJ target. Headline y/y CPI coming in at 2.2% from 2.6% in December , ex fresh food 2.0% from 2.3% and ex fresh food & energy at 3.5% from 3.7%. The Japan inflation picture continue to moderate and move closer to BoJ target. However, ex fresh food and energy CPI remains a tough nut to crack and maybe on BoJ's mind for a while. Still, all eyes are on March wage negotiation as the result will have a higher impact than CPI currently. USD/JPY moved lower by 0.13% to 150.48 as U.S. Treasury Yields move lower and JGB yields higher.
ABC media reports that China will remove tariffs on Australian wine at the end of March which was imposed in the Trump era. While this seems to be a sign that the Australia-Chinese relationship improves, it could also be read as a signal to Australia as Trump has his eyes on presidency again. With the Chinese equity market performing, AUD/USD is erased earlier losses and is trading 0.09% higher at 0.6546, NZD/USD on the other hand fell 0.1% to 0.6166 while USD/CAD slipped 0.04% as oil rose slightly more than 10 cents. Elsewhere, EUR/USD is unchanged for the session and GBP/USD is down 0.04%.