Data released this morning showed that In April Y/Y chinese imports jumped to 21.5% and exports rose to 12.9% both figures were higher than expected and previous readings.
The USD has continued to firm and has been back to pursuing recent four month highs. The US Dollar index measuring the strength of the USD against a basket of other currencies topped highs of 92.97 throughout yesterday’s session and continues to garner support also this morning.
EURUSD briefly slipped to below 1.19 levels pressured by a stronger USD, but also weaker than expected EZ April Retail PMIs and a softer reading for May’s EZ sentix investor confidence index did not help support for the single currency.
In the meantime markets will closely follow an anouncement expected today whereby President Trump will communicate a decision about US’s position on an international nuclear agreement with Iran.
Overall sentiment in Asia was positive with the major equity indices headed higher, taking the positive lead from the US. Later today we have German industrial production and Fed’s Powell is expected to speak at an SNB/IMF event in Zurich.
