Forex news from the European trading session - 14 July 2020
Headlines:
- JP Morgan Q2 EPS $1.32 vs $1.01 estimate
- US June NFIB small business optimism index 100.6 vs 97.8 expected
- BofA July fund manager survey: 74% say long US tech is the most crowded trade
- Germany July ZEW survey current situation -80.9 vs -65.0 expected
- China says it will impose sanctions on Lockheed Martin
- UK 2-year bond yields briefly fall below that of Japan's for the first time ever
- UK May visible trade balance -£2.8 billion vs -£8.2 billion expected
- UK May monthly GDP +1.8% vs +5.5% m/m expected
Markets:
- EUR leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities lower; E-minis up 0.3%
- US 10-year yields up 0.6 bps to 0.625%
- Gold down 0.4% to $1,795.60
- WTI down 1.1% to $39.66
- Bitcoin down 0.9% to $9,172
There wasn't much of a firm theme during the session as risk stayed more defensive and subdued but major currencies did rock back and forth a little.
European equities are kept lower, playing catch-up to the late decline from US stocks yesterday while US futures are keeping near unchanged levels for the most part.
Futures did see mild gains early on but gave them up after China chose to impose sanctions on US defense company, Lockheed Martin - yet another symbolic gesture.
The dollar and yen firmed in the opening stages but gave back those gains and a little more as the session progressed. EUR/USD eased from 1.1345 to 1.1325 before rising to 1.1380 currently and is looking to keep above the recent swing region at 1.1370-75.
The pound was weighed lower after a poor UK May GDP report, with cable easing from 1.2540 to test support at 1.2500-10 before recovering to around 1.2530 currently.
AUD/USD also tracked lower initially from 0.6945 to the support region around 0.6922-27 before bouncing back to test its key hourly moving averages at 0.6954-60 now.
All eyes will stay on the risk mood and US equities once again. Tech stocks had a sense of exhaustion after hitting an all-time high and then retreating yesterday. Will that continue today to see the Nasdaq fall in back-to-back days for the first time since 10-11 May?
