Forex news from the European trading session - 2 June 2020
Headlines:
- Germany says preparing decision to lift travel warning for EU and some other countries
- UK's Raab: We oppose HK security law imposed by China
- Russia and some other nations are said to favour a 1-month extension to OPEC+ output cuts deal
- UK April mortgage approvals 15.8k vs 24.0k expected
- Wuhan says it finds 300 asymptomatic virus cases in city-wide testing of its 11 million population
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 29 May CHF 681.6 bn vs CHF 679.9 bn prior
- Tokyo reportedly set to issue alert on spike in coronavirus cases
- Global Times: China continues to purchase US soybeans in line with market rules, unaffected by external factors
- Chinese foreign ministry: No information on halt of soybean purchases from the US
- Tokyo reportedly considers issuing coronavirus alert
- Full statement of the RBA June monetary policy decision
- RBA leaves cash rate unchanged at 0.25%
- Germany reports 213 new coronavirus cases, another 11 deaths in latest update
- Moody's say Japan GDP to contract 6.5% in 2020
Markets:
- AUD leads, JPY lags on the day
- European equities higher; E-minis up 0.5%
- US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 0.67%
- Gold flat at $1,740.10
- WTI up 2.1% to $36.20
- Bitcoin up 4.3% to $10,098
The dollar is once again trailing - this time alongside the yen - as the market takes another glass half-full approach, with equities continuing to push higher on the session.
US futures turned losses of around 0.3% as China said that they are still continuing with soybean purchases from the US, with E-minis sitting about 0.5% higher now.
The push higher in risk weighed on the dollar and yen, more so the latter as we see USD/JPY climb towards 107.80 levels from around 107.60 earlier in the day.
But the dollar also saw heavy declines with EUR/USD climbing to fresh highs since 17 March in a move from 1.1140 to 1.1188. Meanwhile, cable pushed to a fresh one-month high in an early move from 1.2500 to 1.2576 before backing off a little.
Risk currencies continue to outperform as well with AUD/USD extending gains to its highest levels since January, rising from 0.6790 to 0.6869 as the RBA also left its cash rate unchanged and didn't push back against the gains in the currency over the past month.
Amid the civil unrest in the US, the market is continuing to keep calm and march forward. In these crazy times, the Nasdaq looks set to hit an all-time high soon enough.
