- UK Nationwide consumer confidence index slips to 49 in July from 51 in June
- New Zealand retail sales better than expected at +0.9% QoQ
- Regional stockmarkets +1.5% on average
- Gold collapses overnight by over $100 after CME adjusted margin requirements; price rallies again in Asia, +$16 to $1664/oz
USD/JPY followed recent history by rallying in early trade as dealers hoped for some intervention. Expected Gotobi demand at the Tokyo fix also encouraged the bulls. The early morning mini rally stalled ahead of corporate offers at 77.20 and retraced immediately after the fix. AUD/JPY selling was also notable despite the stronger equity markets with real money funds behind the selling. Ranges: 76.82/77.14
AUD/USD took aim at trailing stops below 1.0430, got them done, then gave up. Range: 1.0425/75
There is nothing to report on the EUR/USD as it jobbed around in a 25 pip range, 1.4389/1.4415.
Sterling didn’t react at all to the consumer confidence data, trading a tight 1.6350/75 range.