Ahead of the FOMC Wednesday, we would have expected a more sedate trading session, but there were plenty of movers, headlined but the overnight event risk from the BoJ meeting. The unchanged policy gave the JPY a bid across the board, with USD/JPY falling away through the 113.00s and into the high to mid 112.00s. Recent 112.61 lows were matched, but a tentative recovery is since in place.
Much attention was on GBP, with the market aggressively hitting cable into the mid 1.4100s after taking out modest support at 1.4250. EUR/GBP buying has maintained the pressure, but as of the London close, last week’s .7847 has only been matched as yet.
The commodity currencies were also under pressure today – as they are given the USD correlation – with a fall in oil price pushing USD/CAD towards 1.3400, but holding the figure level. In NZ, the futures market was suggesting a modest rise in WMP, but the 0.8% fall along with the 2.9% drop in the dairy index saw NZD/USD knocked back into the post RBNZ lows seen last week, later taking out .6600. AUD/USD trade has been a little more restrained, though we did trade briefly under .7450, with no significant bounce seen since.
EUR/USD has been a relative bystander throughout, with players likely giving this pair a wide berth after last week’s surprise ramp.