In the News

Pound Slides Vs Majors on Virus Row, Risk-off Bias: Inside G-10

March 22 (BLOOMBERG) - The pound touched the lowest in almost a week and weakened versus most Group-of-10 currency peers as the U.K.’s ongoing conflict with the European Union over the delivery of coronavirus vaccines sapped demand.

 

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The dollar pared earlier gains as U.S. yields retreated amid a slight risk-off tone in the market, fueled by a plunge in Turkey’s currency.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index +0.1%; earlier advanced as much as 0.3% before falling back to session lows; the U.S. 10-year yield dropped 2.8bps to 1.69%; the Swiss franc led gains among G-10 counterparts

EUR/USD

+0.1% to 1.1916; earlier touched 1.1931; a close above the 1.1937 level would suggest, at least in the near term, that the recent decline has bottomed out, opening up the way for a re-test of 1.1990, according to Citigroup’s Tom Fitzpatrick

GBP/USD

-0.3% to 1.3826
The pound is hovering near its 55-DMA of 1.3803 and a significant-close below that level could mean a run toward the 100-day moving average of 1.3605, said Juan Perez, FX trader in Washington D.C. at Monex, Inc., a global FX payments company. “The trend of bad news and bad figures could” lead to the mid-1.30s

USD/JPY

-0.1% to 108.81; dropped as much as 0.3% to 108.51; bids near 108.50 to 108.20 levels provide support, according to New York traders

Sizable options expiring Tuesday include over $2b of 108.00 strikes and $1.8b of 108.12 strikes, according to DTCC

CIBC’s Jeremy Stretch expects the cross to remain impacted by UST-JGB spreads amid the U.S. auctions; the U.S is scheduled to sell 2-, 5- and 7-year notes this week

(Some information comes from an FX trader familiar with the transactions who asked not to be identified because the person isn’t authorized to speak publicly)

 

Reporting by SUSANNE BARTON, With assistance from Robert Fullem
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