Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 1.10 %, Shanghai Composite fell 0.70 %, Hang Seng declined 0.45 %, ASX 200 lost 0.60 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1327 (-0.25 %), Silver at $19.80 (-0.05 %), WTI Oil at $44.75 (-0.05 %), Brent Oil at $46.30 (+0.25 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 1.55, UK 10 year yield at 0.84, German 10 year yield at -0.02
News & Data:
- Japan Nikkei Manufacturing PMI Jul P: 49.0 (prev. 48.1)
- China MNI Business Indicator Jul: 55.5 (prev. 54.5)
- USD/CNY mid-point set at 6.6669 (prev. fix 6.6872, prev. close 6.6795)
- Asia slips as weak results halt record Wall Street run, yen holds gains – RTRS
- Oil futures up slightly, face weekly decline as glut fears persist – RTRS
- Yen off six-week low after 'helicopter money' mania shot down – RTRS
Markets Update:
EUR/USD traded in a 1.1020-33 range overnight and is basically unchanged from yesterday's European open. The ECB meeting was a non-event as the central bank kept rates unchanged as expected and Draghi did not reveal anything new in the press conference. GBP/USD volatility has decreased as well. After the pair bounced off the 1.3160 level in yesterday's NY session, it continued its recovery to 1.3250 overnight.
USD/JPY has been under heavy pressure in the past 24 hours after comments from BoJ Governor Kuroda, who said that "helicopter money" is not needed and not possible. Speculators have been buyers of USD/JPY in the past few days, anticipating further easing measures from Japan's central bank. The pair fell from 107.50 to 105.50 yesterday and overnight, it was consolidating between 105.55 and 106.25.
Commodity currencies fell slightly in Asia, with AUD/USD declining from 0.7510 to 0.7460 and NZD/USD from 0.7015 to 0.6975.
Upcoming Events:
- 08:00 BST – French Manufacturing PMI
- 08:00 BST – French Services PMI
- 08:30 BST – German Manufacturing PMI
- 08:30 BST – German Services PMI
- 09:00 BST – Euro Zone Manufacturing PMI
- 09:00 BST – Euro Zone Services PMI
- 09:30 BST – UK Manufacturing PMI
- 13:30 BST – Canadian CPI
- 13:30 BST – Canadian Retail Sales
- 20:30 BST – CFTC Positioning Data
