Forex news from the European trading session - 25 May 2020
Headlines:
- Japan announces nationwide lifting of state of emergency
- Germany reportedly plans to support medium-size firms by up to €50,000 per month
- Germany May Ifo business climate index 79.5 vs 78.5 expected
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 22 May CHF 679.9 bn vs CHF 673.5 bn prior
- China says that it strongly condemns US blacklisting 33 of its entities
- China says that acts during Hong Kong protests last year were "terrorist" in nature
- Germany Q1 final GDP -2.2% vs -2.2% q/q prelim
- Japan reportedly to start giving out travel vouchers from end-July
- Apple to reopen some of its Japan stores this week
Markets:
- CAD leads, JPY lags (very minor changes)
- European equities higher; E-minis up 1.0%
- Gold down 0.4% to $1,727.56
- WTI up 0.9% to $33.55
- Bitcoin down 4.9% to $8,731
It was a quiet session for the most part as UK markets were closed and that resulted in very subdued ranges in the major currencies space.
But equities found some room to rally, with the DAX rising to its highest level since 6 March as the German government is reportedly nearing a €9 billion bailout of Lufthansa.
The positive vibes reverberated throughout the session, with US futures also up 1%.
That said, it didn't do much for major currencies as the ranges to start the week remains relatively narrow and dollar pairs are less than 0.1% change currently.
Risk sentiment remains the key driver in the market at the moment but the lack of headlines today isn't really leading to much notable movement in the market.
With US also observing a holiday, the subdued conditions are likely to continue to play out before we get a better sense of the current stock market rally tomorrow.