ForexLive European FX news wrap: Yen strengthens on BOJ anticipation, NFP up next

Headlines:

Markets:

• JPY leads, EUR lags on the day
• European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures down 0.2%
• US 10-year yields down 2.3 bps to 4.069%
• Gold up 0.3% to $2,166.54
• WTI crude down 0.7% to $77.73
• Bitcoin up 0.4% to $67,620

The yen is once again the big mover today as the more hawkish BOJ murmurs continue to grow louder. A report stating that the Japanese central bank might look to end negative rates in March helped to fuel gains, with USD/JPY sliding from 147.70 to 146.90 during the session. The pair is holding around 147.15 now, still down 0.6% as we await the US jobs report next.

Meanwhile, the euro is the laggard as ECB policymakers were out in force to put out some surprising remarks on an April rate cut. They did say that June remains most likely but are subtly keeping April on the table as well. EUR/USD is down 0.2% to 1.0930 even as the dollar is seen weaker across the board today.

Looking at the other major currencies, GBP/USD is flirting with an upside break of its own at 1.2835 now – its highest levels since August last year. Meanwhile, AUD/USD is up 0.3% to 0.6640 as it continues to scale to fresh seven-week highs.

In other markets, equities are looking more tentative with US futures down slightly and European indices more mixed. It doesn’t take away from the strong gains yesterday though as stocks are still hoping to end the week slightly higher.

As for bonds, they are staying more bid with 10-year Treasury yields now potentially closing in on the 4% mark. Yields are down nearly 30 bps from the highs two weeks ago and that is also a key factor driving the dollar lower at the moment.

In the commodities space, gold continues to shine brightly as it briefly hit a fresh record high of $2,170 before holding around $2,166 now – up 0.3% on the day.