Headlines:
One last consecutive rate cut for the road by the ECB?What are the expectations for the ECB decision coming up later?China vice president Han Zheng says US-China relations are at ‘critical juncture’Japan to offer a package on China in tariff talks with the US – NikkeiSuzuki stops production of Swift model cars due to China’s rare earth restrictionMajority of UK firms see no material impact from US trade policy changes – BOE surveyEurozone April PPI -2.2% vs -1.8% m/m expectedGermany April industrial orders +0.6% vs -1.0% m/m expectedGermany May construction PMI 44.4 vs 45.1 priorUK May construction PMI 47.9 vs 47.2 expectedItaly April retail sales +0.7% vs +0.2% expectedUS Challenger May layoffs 93.82k vs 105.44k prior
Markets:
AUD and NZD lead, JPY lags on the dayEuropean equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.1%US 10-year yields down 2.7 bps to 4.337%Gold up 0.5% to $3,392.63WTI crude up 0.2% to $62.97Bitcoin up 0.2% to $104,870
It was another quiet session for the most part as we await the ECB policy decision later today alongside more trade developments before the end of the week.
Major currencies didn’t get up to much amid a lack of significant headlines, with just some murmurs about what is happening between the US and Japan as Akazawa heads to Washington again for more talks.
The dollar is trading more mixed, keeping little changed against the euro, pound, and franc. USD/JPY is seen up 0.3% to 143.27 but there wasn’t too much pushing and pulling during the session. USD/CAD is also fairly subdued, down 0.1% to 1.3660 while AUD/USD is up 0.3% to 0.6508 in flirting with a potential breakout above 0.6500 at least. The latter is perhaps the only notable move in the FX space.
Besides that, risk sentiment was fairly more tentative as well. European indices continue to creep higher with US futures keeping lightly changed after a bit of a pullback late yesterday.
Instead, it was precious metals that stood out with silver jumping over 2% to fresh highs in 12 years. The price moved up to hit nearly $36 before settling around $35.70 now, up 2.1% on the day. That also saw gold recover from light losses to be up to close in on the $3,400 mark now as we look to US trading.
The ECB is up next and will deliver a 25 bps rate cut. All eyes will on what Lagarde has to say next before the focus turns back towards more trade headlines and the US jobs report tomorrow.
This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.