ForexLive European FX news wrap: Currencies muted on lack of meaningful data

Headlines:

• ECB’s de Guindos: Appropriate to loosen restrictive policy if inflation conditions are met
• BOJ’s Noguchi: Some big firms are benefiting from a weaker yen
• PBOC deputy governor says will keep yuan exchange rate basically stable
• PBOC cautions against ‘one-sided’ pursuit of credit expansion
• Switzerland March trade balance CHF 3.54 billion vs CHF 3.66 billion prior
• Eurozone February current account balance €29.5 billion vs €39.4 billion prior
• German economy likely expanded in Q1 – Bundesbank
• Dollar’s dominant status as world’s reserve currency set to endure – Morgan Stanley

Markets:

• GBP leads, JPY lags on the day
• European equities a little higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
• US 10-year yields down 0.6 bps to 4.579%
• Gold up 0.9% to $2,382.41
• WTI crude down 0.9% to $81.95
• Bitcoin up 3.3% to $62,857

Major currencies were relatively muted during the session, as the dollar kept steadier for the most part. The greenback fell in trading yesterday but it hasn’t really amounted to much in the grand scheme of things.

EUR/USD is flat on the day at 1.0671, holding within a 25 pips range, while USD/JPY is also little changed at around 154.45 currently. The pound is a little higher at 1.2473 but remains in a consolidation phase just under 1.2500.

Meanwhile, commodity currencies are also lightly changed with USD/CAD down just 0.1% to 1.3756 and AUD/USD up 0.1% to 0.6441 on the day.

In the equities space, we are seeing a light bounce in the risk mood. However, it is still early in the day and we’ll see if Wall Street will want to carry on with that appetite.

It’s a bit of a slower week in general as there isn’t any major economic data releases. And that seems to be how markets are taking to things in general as of late. On weeks when there is big data, we do get some notable moves across the board. But on weeks like this, it can be quite the slugfest at times.

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