Europe Summary and Highlights 23 January
The USD was generally a little softer through the European morning.
European morning session
The USD was generally a little softer through the European morning. EUR/USD gained around 20 pips to 1.0415 and USD/JPY lost around 30 pips to 156.30. AUD and CAD were little changed against the USD, as were the CHF and scandis. GBP gained in line with the EUR.
There was very little news of note. The Norges Bank meeting passed without incident, with Norges Bank leaving rates unchanged and continuing to indicate that a rate cut was very likely in March. EUR/NOK was initially little changed but edged slightly higher through the morning, although this was more about general EUR gains as NOK/SEK edged lower. Datawise there was nothing of note other than a slightly softer than expected French business survey.
Asia session
The Japanese trade seems to be regaining traction with export beating estimate at 2.8% and import back into positive territory at 1.8%. Trading with Asia grew the most for December 2024. Eyes are still on Trump and his policy, USD/JPY is trading 0.1% higher at 156.65 with U.S. Treasury underperform JGB yields. market participants are quietly waiting for any "leaks' for the BoJ meeting and will be swinging market
Regional sentiment positive with Chinese equities leading. The Chinese government is pumping the market with providing long term funds for the equity market, from pension funds and insurance firms. The FX market is relatively quiet on Thursday and see AUD/USD up 0.05% higher at 0.6276, NZD/USD is up 0.08% at 0.5669 while USD/CAD rise 0.07%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.02% an GBP/US is unchanged.