Forex news from the European trading session - 24 May 2021
Headlines:
- BOJ's Kuroda: We are starting to see light at the end of pandemic tunnel
- Bitcoin holds a bounce after weekend drag
- Dollar holds its ground for the time being
- ICYMI: China looks to curb price increases for bulk commodities
- Johnson & Johnson applies for approval of COVID-19 vaccine use in Japan
- Germany reports 2,682 new coronavirus cases, 43 deaths in latest update today
Markets:
- EUR leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures up 0.4%
- US 10-year yields down 0.7 bps to 1.615%
- Gold flat at $1,880.90
- WTI up 1.6% to $64.60
- Bitcoin up 11.5% to $37,570
It was a very quiet session in Europe with most markets in the region closed in observance of Pentecost/Whit Monday so that kept things slower to start the week.
Major currencies are little changed in general, though EUR/GBP did move a little higher from 0.8610 to 0.8650 and is hovering thereabouts for now.
Besides that, there hasn't been much movement as major currencies are little changed overall with EUR/USD keeping just above 1.2200 in a slight push higher though holding below its 25 February high @ 1.2243 still since last week.
USD/JPY was lower initially around 108.70 but recovered to keep flatter at 108.90 levels.
Elsewhere, US futures are holding slightly higher as risk looks to start the week on firmer footing and the steadier tone in cryptos (Bitcoin bouncing back from the weekend drop) is at least not chipping away at sentiment for now.
The market will still has a lot of questions to be answered when it comes to inflation and there will be more soul-searching to be had this week, alongside month-end trading.
