Page 35 - Urrencies News Today

The Australian dollar came under renewed selling pressure amidst the solid performance in the Greenback on Thursday.

Alternating risk appetite trends dominated the sentiment in the FX universe amidst steady speculation of a Fed rate cut in May, rising geopolitical concerns, and some remarks hinting at the idea that the ECB is in no rush to start cutting rates.

On Thursday, the GBP/USD pair declined towards the 1.2615 level showing slight losses with upbeat US labor market figures benefiting the Greenback with Jobless claims from the week ending on February 3 coming in lower than expected.

The US Dollar (USD) steadily rose on Thursday, initially to 103.45 and then stabilizing at 104.15 on the back of positive Initial Jobless Claims figures.

The FX galaxy seems to have entered a broad-based consolidative phase against the backdrop of rising speculations that major central banks—with the exception of the BoJ—might now take more time to assess the start of the easing cycle.

Finally, some respite for the Aussie dollar came in the wake of the RBA’s widely anticipated decision to keep its Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged on Tuesday.

In Tuesday's session, the AUD/JPY pair traded mildly higher, hitting a daily high at 96.83 and then stabilizing at 96.40.

The EUR/JPY drops from around weekly highs reached on Monday at 160.27 and forms a three-candle ‘evening star’ chart pattern, that opens the door for further losses.

The USD/CAD pair extends the previous day's retracement slide from the vicinity of mid-1.3500s, or its highest level in almost two months and remains under some selling pressure for the second straight day on Wednesday.

EU mid-market update: ECB hawk Schnabel lifts EU bond yields with FT comments; Market waits for more Fed speak.