ForexLive European FX news wrap: SNB and BOE surprise by keeping interest rates unchanged

Headlines:

Markets:

• JPY leads, CHF lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.8%
• US 10-year yields up 3.9 bps to 4.450%
• Gold down 0.6% to $1,918.81
• WTI crude down 0.5% to $89.19
• Bitcoin down 1.4% to $26,715

The two major central bank decisions today ended up with two big surprises as both the SNB and BOE decided to keep interest rates unchanged. The franc and pound both fell in the aftermath of each decisions, as markets were expecting both central banks to have hiked interest rates for one final time at least.

The biggest winner? The US dollar, especially since the Fed managed to convince markets that they can manage higher rates for longer. And that also saw a breakout in Treasury yields, with 10-year yields now at 4.45% – its highest since 2007.

USD/CHF raced higher from 0.8990 to 0.9075 after the SNB decision, before easing slightly to 0.9050 currently. Meanwhile, GBP/USD fell from 1.2295 to 1.2240 but is keeping at around 1.2260 now – still down 0.7% on the day.

The dollar had been trashing the rest of the major currencies today, especially with equities failing to take heart in the SNB and BOE pauses amid higher bond yields. The slump in stocks during the session is continuing to keep a bid in the dollar, with the commodity currencies lagging as well.

AUD/USD is down 0.7% to 0.6400 while USD/CAD is up 0.4% to 1.3510 at the moment, as oil prices also see a bit of a retreat on the week.

It’s now over to the BOJ tomorrow to see if they will also surprise markets. For now, yen traders are definitely feeling some uneasiness as we did see USD/JPY come off the boil from 148.40 to 147.70 during the session.