Forex trading news headlines and economic data 23 July 2015

  • Q2 2015 Spain unemployment rate 22.37% vs 23.10% exp
  • June 2015 UK retail sales -0.2% vs +0.3% exp m/m
  • ECB's Visco says Greek debt needs to be dealt with
  • Japan's Abe: We cannot say that we have definitely escaped deflation
  • What are the chances of Greece concluding bailout negotiations by 20th August?
  • Italy's Confindustria sees Italian Q2 GDP at 0.3%
  • Greece will decide next week when to open Athens stock exchange
  • USDCAD providing good two way trading as it pivots 1.30
  • Where next for NZDUSD after the RBNZ cut?

A lazy start sparked into life with a bout of both dollar weakness and across-board Euro strength

Some less than positive comments from Japan's Abe was touted as the reason but that doesn't wash for me. USDJPY slid under 124.00 and we had a quick run down to 123.68. So far the bounce looks tepid, reaching 123.90. As I tinkle the plastic ivories on my keyboard, we've had another quick drop to 123.75

The euro ran quick smart from 1.0930 to 1.0996 as the dollar tanked. Buyers were knocked back to 1.0982 once before regrouping for another attack which managed a 1.1003 high. Again they were seen off and a battle ensued between 1.0980 and 1.1005. Sellers won out again and managed to push the euro down to 1.0969 but the buyers won't give up and have tried to strike another blow at the big figure, and look to be building for a proper pop

GBPUSD followed the anti-dollar crowd up to 1.5671 and ahead of resistance at 1.5575/80. That was as good as it got for pound traders still buoyed by the recent hawkish BOE comments. A right royal beating was handed out by UK retail sales and the bloody noses stopped dripping around 1.5584, as we fell from 1.5650. There's been no real effort for the bulls to take back some of the fall which potentially flags a warning sign that the buyers have had a wake up call from the economy. The euro's resilience is also playing a part as it's holding EURGBP up at the 0.7050 highs and further upside will add more weight onto the shoulders of cable. 1.5580 is the number to watch right now

NZDUSD looked to be settling within its recent range after the RBNZ cut rates, that was until the USD tripped up. Resistance at 0.6650 got sent packing and we've pulled up just shy of 0.6700

AUDUSD jumped on the 'kick a dollar while it's down' bus adding just under 60 pips from 0.7363 to 0.7418. It sits 10 pips lower as I wrap up the wrap

It's been another quiet day for the data (UK retails excluded) and it looks like the European talking heads have their noses pressed into the holiday brochures. They might have to put those down tomorrow when Greece starts the negotiating engine back up