Entering into US sessions, Sterling is the strongest one for today as it recovered ahead of near term support level against both Dollar and Yen. Some might attribute the U-turn in Pound to speculations that PM May could finally get the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement through the Commons today. There is ground for such expectation as more and more Conservatives who voted against the deal in MV2 have now turned, including Dominic Raab and Boris Johnson. However, without support from Northern Ireland’s DUP, the chance of getting through is still slim. Sterling’s rebound is likely more about lightening up positions ahead of this crucial vote and the weekend.
Staying in the currency markets, it’s rather quiet elsewhere. New Zealand Dollar is second strongest, paring some of this week’s steep losses. Australian and Canadian Dollar follow. Yen is weakest one for today, followed by Swiss Franc. Risk aversion eased with rally in European and Asian stocks. German yield is also recovering, which US 10-year yield is regaining 2.4 handle.
A bunch of data is released in European session but they received little attention. UK Q4 GDP was finalized at 0.2% qoq, unrevised. Total business investment dropped -0.9% qoq, revised up from -1.4% qoq. Current account deficit narrowed to GBP -23.7B. M4 money supply rose 0.3% mom in February. Mortgage approvals dropped to 64k in February.
Germany unemployment dropped -7k in March, versus expectation of -10k. Unemployment rate dropped 0.1% to 4.9%, matched expectations. Retail sales rose 0.9% mom in February, way better than expectation of -0.9% mom. Import price index rose 0.3% mom, below expectation of 0.5% mom. Swiss KOF leading indicator improved to 97.4 in March, up from 93.0.
In Europe, currently:
- FTSE is up 0.31%.
- DAX is up 0.88%.
- CAC is up 0.80%.
- German 10-year yield is up 0.0176 at -0.049.
Earlier in Asia:
- Nikkei rose 0.82%.
- Hong Kong HSI rose 0.96%.
- China Shanghai SSE rose 3.20%.
- Singapore Strait Times rose 0.29%.
- Japan 10-year yield rose 0.0034 to -0.09.
