• FX traders have got their popcorn bags out
• USD/JPY but a whisker away from the pivotal 155 mark
• Japan senior lawmaker says yen slide towards 160 could prod action
• Aussie bounce runs into key level on the chart, what’s next?
• ECB’s Nagel: June rate cut not necessarily followed up by a series of rate cuts
• Germany April Ifo business climate index 89.4 vs 88.8 expected
• Switzerland April UBS investor sentiment 17.6 vs 11.5 prior
• UK April CBI trends total orders -23 vs -16 expected
• US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 19 April -2.7% vs +3.3% prior

Markets:

• AUD leads, CHF lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.2%
• US 10-year yields up 3.7 bps to 4.635%
• Gold down 0.2% to $2,316.38
• WTI crude down 0.6% to $82.87
• Bitcoin up 0.3% to $66,545

The story of the session was pretty much having your eyes glued to the USD/JPY ticker to see if traders would take a run at the 155.00 mark. The high touched 154.96 but there was no further advance to really threaten the figure level as price hovered around 154.85-92 for the most part. Close but no cigar.

The rest of the major currencies bloc didn’t get up to much as traders got their popcorn bags out instead. EUR/USD and GBP/USD are down a touch but nothing too substantial. The former is down 0.15% to 1.0683 while the latter is down 0.14% to 1.2431 on the day.

The aussie was a decent mover early on but ran into a test of its 200-day moving average against the dollar near 0.6530. AUD/USD then backed off but is still up around 0.25% at 0.6500 currently.

In the equities space, US futures are slightly higher but there are some nerves showing as S&P 500 futures briefly pared gains during the session. European indices are keeping a slight advance, hoping to keep the win streak going this week.

In the bond market, yields are higher again and that is also in part helping to underpin USD/JPY in general on the day.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.