ForexLive European FX news wrap: Japanese yen jumps, stocks on the rocks

Headlines:

• USD/JPY sellers look to make a play to start European trading
• The risk mood is looking fairly nervous now in European morning trade
• What are the calls going into the ECB policy decision later?
• Germany’s lower house reportedly set to vote on debt brake reform on 18 March
• US February Challenger layoffs 172.02k vs 49.79k prior
• Eurozone January retail sales -0.3% vs +0.1% m/m expected
• Germany February construction PMI 41.2 vs 42.5 prior
• UK February construction PMI 44.6 vs 49.5 expected
• Switzerland February seasonally adjusted unemployment rate 2.7% vs 2.7% expected
• PBOC governor Pan says will cut interest rates and RRR at appropriate time
• Trump reportedly plans to disrupt Iran oil exports by halting vessels at sea
• Japan’s largest union group Rengo says seeking average wage hike of 6.09% for 2025
• China Unveils AI Agent Manus, Claims It Outperforms OpenAI Models

Markets:

• JPY leads, CAD lags on the day
• European equities lower except for DAX; S&P 500 futures down 1.1%
• US 10-year yields up 1.9 bps to 4.286%
• Gold down 0.6% to $2,902.52
• WTI crude up 0.7% to $66.78
• Bitcoin down 0.3% to $90,111

There was some decent action in European trading today with the yen racing higher as Japanese bond yields surge up as well. 10-year JGB yields moved up to above 1.50% to its highest since 2009, helping to underpin the yen as the mood music ahead of the spring wage negotiations remains upbeat.

USD/JPY tumbled after a break of key support from its December low as well, falling by 0.9% now to 147.60 on the day. Besides that, the dollar is trading more mixed as it holds little changed against the euro ahead of the ECB but down 0.4% against the franc with USD/CHF at 0.8865 currently.

USD/CAD is sitting higher on the day though, up 0.2% to 1.4365 as we await the tariffs drama to unfold further on the week. Meanwhile, the antipodes are struggling a little as the risk mood turned more sour in European trading.

S&P 500 futures were flattish in the handover from Asia but are now down by over 1% as jitters return to the market. Tech shares are feeling the pinch with Nasdaq futures now down 1.5% and Nvidia down some 3.5% in pre-market.

In Europe, major indices opened higher but it is only the DAX that is keeping afloat on the day as all others turned negative following the more positive start.

In terms of headlines, there weren’t anything too substantial. Germany will be voting on the debt brake reform in two weeks from now while in the US, we’re seeing the impact of Elon Musk’s DOGE as Challenger job cuts skyrocketed to its highest since the pandemic in February.

It’s all setting up for another blockbuster of a day in US trading later. But first, we have the ECB policy decision to work through next.

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