Forex news from the European trading session - 29 June 2020
Headlines:
- Florida beaches to close for 4th of July weekend amid rising coronavirus concerns
- UK May mortgage approvals 9.3k vs 25.0k expected
- SNB makes it cheaper for banks to access short-term funds
- SNB total sight deposits w.e. 26 June CHF 683.0 bn vs CHF 680.1 bn prior
- EU to have 'safe travel' list prepared by Tuesday - Spanish foreign minister
- China says to put visa restrictions on US individuals following US sanctions on Chinese officials
- UK PM Johnson: We cannot just step back on the economy now
- Saxony June CPI +1.0% vs +0.9% y/y prior
- Spain June preliminary CPI -0.3% vs -0.5% y/y expected
- North Rhine Westphalia June CPI +0.9% vs +0.5% y/y prior
- NZ PM Ardern: It is untenable to open up borders due to the coronavirus
Markets:
- EUR leads, USD and JPY lag
- European equities higher; E-minis up 0.4%
- US 10-year yields up 0.6 bps to 0.648%
- Gold up 0.1% to $1,772.89
- WTI up 0.6% to $38.72
- Bitcoin down 1.2% to $9,075
It was a largely quiet session as investors are keeping the focus on risk ahead of the month-end and quarter-end trading that is to come tomorrow. The mood was rather choppy in Europe once again - similar to price action in risk seen since Thursday last week.
Headlines mattered little as all eyes will be on the latest updates from the US coronavirus situation later in the day, but we did see China react to the sanctions put out by the US on Chinese officials over the Hong Kong matter over the weekend.
That did little to dent the risk mood though, as stocks started off a little better before retreating and are now finding its groove a little bit ahead of US trading.
But it was the euro that stood out in the major currencies space, as the single currency stays underpinned from an extended breakout in EUR/GBP to fresh two-month highs.
EUR/GBP climbed from 0.9100 to 0.9165, continuing its run from late last week and that helped to also push EUR/USD higher from 1.1235 to 1.1280 levels.
Meanwhile, the pound slumped amid said flows with cable seen sagging from a high of 1.2390 - due to dollar weakness initially - to a low of 1.2304 in the session.
The greenback stays more on the back foot alongside the yen but losses remain limited elsewhere against other major currencies. AUD/USD tested a high of 0.6891 but backed off on a test of key near-term levels around the region.
It is still all about risk and though the market has a slight positive tilt for now, it isn't indicative of much as things can quickly turn around as we saw in Friday trading last week.
