ForexLive European FX news wrap: Euro nudges up with month-end in focus

Headlines:

• EUR/USD runs up to test the 1.1200 mark again
• Chinese stocks stay hot ahead of the holiday break
• Weekly update on interest rate expectations
• SNB data shows Swiss central bank was hardly active in FX markets in Q2
• SNB total sight deposits w.e. 27 September CHF 472.2 bn vs CHF 465.3 bn prior
• Germany August import price index -0.4% vs -0.3% m/m expected
• Bavaria September CPI +1.9% vs +2.1% y/y prior
• Italy September preliminary CPI +0.7% vs +0.8% y/y expected
• UK Q2 final GDP +0.5% vs +0.6% q/q prelim
• UK September Nationwide house prices +0.7% vs +0.2% m/m expected
• UK August mortgage approvals 64.86k vs 64.00k expected
• Japan incoming prime minister Ishiba proposes 27 October date for snap election

Markets:

• EUR leads, JPY lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.3%
• US 10-year yields up 2.2 bps to 3.771%
• Gold down 0.6% to $2,641.32
• WTI crude down 0.7% to $67.73
• Bitcoin down 3.1% to $63,780

And just like that, another month has almost come and gone. Markets are looking mixed so far today as we are just about to say goodbye to September and the third quarter of the year.

The dollar is trading more mixed on the day with some light flows keeping things interesting in European morning trade.

Chinese equities rallied strongly once more with both the Shanghai Composite and CSI 300 indices closing over 8% higher. That led to some minor gains in the antipodeans but there was no stronger follow through during the session.

The dollar gained back a little there while lost ground against the euro and pound. EUR/USD pushed up by 0.3% to once again test the 1.1200 level while GBP/USD is up 0.2% to nudge back above 1.3400.

Meanwhile, USD/JPY was up early in Asia to 142.95 but fell back to 142.00 after before keeping just a little higher around 142.55 now. That is helped by higher bond yields during the session. Both US and European yields are up even though there were softer inflation numbers out of Germany and Italy on the day.

In the equities space, there wasn’t any spillovers from China’s surging run higher. European indices are down across the board with month-end flows looking to be weighing. And US futures are also down slightly now after a more flattish showing for the most part earlier in the day.

It’s all about getting these month-end and quarter-end shenanigans out of the way, before we move on to a clean slate again in October tomorrow.

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