Euro was weaker going into the European trading session due to renewed euro zone debt contagion fears as Spanish bond yields rose to the highest levels since December. Strong German trade data was ignored while more attention was paid to the euro zone April Sentix index which fell more than expected. This showed European investor confidence falling. EURUSD opened in Europe at 1.3119 and touched a low of 1.3058 before retracing, going into the U.S. trading session, approaching 1.3136.
GBPUSD opened at 1.5916 and declined to 1.5807 as London desk traders returned from the Easter holidays for the first time today and reacted to the disappointing US non-farm payroll data from Friday when markets were closed.
EURCHF respected the 1.20 franc floor and steadily moved up today, though still keeping the Swiss National Bank on their toes. SNB confirmed that the breach of the floor last Thursday was an isolated transaction based on technicalities and that the banks was committed to defending the floor. EURCHF climbed from an early session low of 1.2011 1to 1.2029.
Yen held firm against the dollar and the euro after the Bank of Japan refrained from announcing further policy easing early today in its meeting. EURJPY hovered at 105.96 after dropping over 1 percent since the BOJ meeting during Asian session trading. USDJPY touched a fresh one-month low of 81.04.
AUDUSD fell to 1.0273 after falling since the release of mixed Chinese trade figures. Data showed lower China import growth illustrating challenges to domestic demand. China is Australia’s major export destination and is sensitive to data from there.
