ForexLive European FX news wrap: China uplifts broader markets; SNB cuts, dollar sluggish

Headlines:

• China’s Politburo reaffirms will lower RRR and implement forceful interest rate cuts
• Aussie bounces back today on upbeat China sentiment
• Is this the real turning point for Chinese equities?
• SNB cuts key policy rate by 25 bps to 1.00% from 1.25% previously
• SNB chairman Jordan: Swiss franc rise a major factor of inflation decline
• ECB October policy decision reportedly to be “wide open”
• Germany October GfK consumer sentiment -21.2 vs -22.5 expected
• Germany’s leading economic institutes sees GDP contracting again this year

Markets:

• AUD leads, USD lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.8%
• US 10-year yields down 0.9 bps to 3.771%
• Gold up 0.8% to $2,678.03
• WTI crude down 2.8% to $67.77
• Bitcoin up 1.3% to $64,330

China continues to hog the spotlight so far this week. The Politburo came out today to amplify their commitment towards all of the measures taken up this week and that spurred a surging rally in Chinese assets. The Shanghai Composite closed above the 3,000 mark for the first time since June, closing up by 3.6%. Meanwhile, the CSI 300 index ended up by 4.2% and is holding over 10% gains already this week.

That helped to push the likes of the aussie higher, with a more positive risk mood also flowing through broader markets.

AUD/USD moved up from 0.6840 to 0.6880 levels now, up 0.9% on the day. And as the session progressed, a softer dollar is also starting to permeate across other major currencies.

EUR/USD was weighed down by a report that the ECB is considering October to be a live meeting, with the pair falling to 1.1127 before trading back up by 0.2% now to 1.1155. GBP/USD held steadfast and is up 0.4% to 1.3380. USD/JPY tested the 145.00 mark in early Asia trading but is now dragged down by 0.4% to 144.23 on the day.

There was also the SNB policy decision and the Swiss central bank decided to cut its policy rate by 25 bps. It was a coin flip in terms of market pricing and the decision helped to cement slight gains in the franc, with traders still looking for roughly two more 25 bps rate cuts by the SNB by June next year. In that sense, the pricing outlook hasn’t changed that much.

Still, both USD/CHF and EUR/CHF fell with the latter down 0.2% to 0.9455 currently as the SNB getting outdone by the ECB even on their decision day.

In the equities space, it’s a more straightforward one as investors are buoyed by the vote of confidence in Chinese markets.

S&P 500 futures raced higher to be up 0.8% now while European indices are all holding over 1% gains on the day.

In the commodities space, gold is continuing to scale higher and is trading to fresh record highs now near $2,680. The train marches on there.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.