ECB's TLTRO v3 tanks EUR, buoys USD...........>

FOREX: ECB's TLTRO v3 tanks EUR, buoys USD

-EUR/USD fell sharply, taking out key historical support levels, to target $1.12

as the ECB pulled the trigger on a fresh wave of TLTRO operations and kicked the

can on rate hikes out to 2020. EUR/USD bottomed out at $1.1206, the lowest level

since June 2017. This effect leaked out to Scandi FX: SEK and NOK ended up

underperforming the EUR as the market knocked back the odds of the Riksbank and

Norges Bank being able to tighten against an increasingly loose ECB.

-The USD index was the main beneficiary of the ECB, which rallied to touch

97.50, a level not seen since the midst of the equity downturn in December last

year. The restrictions attached to the new round of ECB TLTROs proved negative

for risk appetite, with weakness in Eurozone banks leaking into US markets also.

This helped prop the JPY throughout the afternoon, which saw EUR/JPY challenge

(but not break) the 50-dma at Y125.07.

-Attention turns to Nonfarm Payrolls for February, expected at 180k (172k

whisper). The Canadian jobs report, Japanese GDP and a speech from ECB's Nowotny

are also due.