Central banks to the fore -Central banks......>

FOREX: Central banks to the fore

-Central banks remains front and centre Thursday with decisions from the BoJ,

SNB, Norges Bank, BoE and SARB all crossing. The SNB decision prompted the

largest market response. While many were eyeing a rate cut further into negative

territory, the SNB chose instead to tweak the rules surrounding NIRP -

protecting banks from the worst effects of negative rates. CHF reacted

positively, pressuring EUR/CHF back toward the 50-dma at 1.0943, but the bank's

recommitment to FX intervention could slow the decline.

-Norges Bank remained a G10 outlier by hiking rates, but today could mark the

end of their tightening cycle, with the terminal rate dropping and helping

EUR/NOK recover off the lows of 9.8210 and actually settle higher. The Bank of

England decision was unchanged, which came as no surprise. AUD maintained its

underperformance throughout, but there's no sign of a bearish breakout just yet.

-Japanese CPI, German PPI and Canadian retail sales are the data highlights of a

quiet Friday. The speakers slate could be more interesting, with Fed's Clarida,

Williams, Rosengren and Kaplan all due as well as ECB's Rimsevics and Visco.