Morning Market Review
EUR/USD
EUR shows ambiguous dynamics against USD during today's Asian session, holding at its lows since April 5. The day before, EUR showed steady growth, but then fell just as quickly, which was caused by the publication of the minutes of the meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) on the interest rate. As expected, the regulator kept the parameters of the monetary policy unchanged, but provided updated recommendations, according to which the recovery of the region's economy may require "constant and strong" support. Earlier, the European Central Bank announced a new monetary policy strategy and adjusted the inflation target. The latter, however, does not show any stable uptrend, and therefore there is no hope for a reduction in the quantitative easing program in the near future. Additional pressure on EUR was put by data on the level of consumer confidence in the eurozone, which in July fell from –3.3 to –4.4 points, while analysts had expected a moderate rise in the indicator to –2.5 points. Today, investors are focused on statistics on business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors in the eurozone for July.
GBP/USD
GBP is trading downwards against USD, correcting after strong gains over the past two sessions that pushed the instrument to local highs since July 16. The reason for the further development of "bullish" trend yesterday was the weak position of USD, which reacted to the publication of macroeconomic statistics from the USA. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending July 16 unexpectedly increased from 368K to 419K, which turned out to be worse than market expectations at 350K. Continuing Jobless Claims fell from 3.265M to 3.236M, but fell short of the expected 3.1M. Correctional sentiment reigns in the market today as investors rush to lock in long profits ahead of the weekend. Slight support for GBP is provided by data on Gfk Consumer Confidence. In July, the indicator continued to grow and strengthened from –9 to –7 points, which turned out to be slightly better than the market forecasts at the level of –8 points.
AUD/USD
AUD shows ambiguous dynamics of trading against USD during the Asian session, consolidating near the local highs and the level of 0.7400. The instrument is supported by the weak positions of USD, which is under pressure from the disappointing macroeconomic statistics from the US on jobless claims. At the same time, the further growth of the pair is hindered by the data from Australia, released today. Commonwealth Bank Services PMI in July fell sharply from 56.8 to 44.2 points, which turned out to be worse than the forecasts. Commonwealth Bank Manufacturing PMI also fell from 58.6 to 56.8 points. In turn, the Composite PMI in July fell from 56.7 to 45.2 points.
USD/JPY
USD shows slight gains against JPY in Asian trading, recovering from a slight decline the day before. Yesterday, USD recorded a decline against most of its competitors, responding to the publication of unexpectedly weak macroeconomic statistics from the US on the dynamics of initial jobless claims. However, USD's decline against JPY turned out to be very limited, as investors preferred to return to more risky assets for a while. In addition, there was a day off in Japan yesterday due to the Health and Sports Day. Today, investors are focused on statistics on business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors in the US from Markit. Analysts' forecasts suggest a slight increase in indicators, which is unlikely to provide significant support to USD.
XAU/USD
Gold prices are declining during today's Asian session, developing flat dynamics in the short term. The day before, the instrument renewed its local lows since July 12, responding to the growth of stock indices and a moderate increase in USD rate. However, with the opening of the US trading session, the "bulls" managed to fully recoup, entering the green zone after the publication of disappointing macroeconomic statistics on jobless claims in the USA. Meanwhile, concerns about a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to provide moderate support for gold, as a number of countries are seeing a sharp increase in the number of infections.
EUR/USD
EUR shows ambiguous dynamics against USD during today's Asian session, holding at its lows since April 5. The day before, EUR showed steady growth, but then fell just as quickly, which was caused by the publication of the minutes of the meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) on the interest rate. As expected, the regulator kept the parameters of the monetary policy unchanged, but provided updated recommendations, according to which the recovery of the region's economy may require "constant and strong" support. Earlier, the European Central Bank announced a new monetary policy strategy and adjusted the inflation target. The latter, however, does not show any stable uptrend, and therefore there is no hope for a reduction in the quantitative easing program in the near future. Additional pressure on EUR was put by data on the level of consumer confidence in the eurozone, which in July fell from –3.3 to –4.4 points, while analysts had expected a moderate rise in the indicator to –2.5 points. Today, investors are focused on statistics on business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors in the eurozone for July.
GBP/USD
GBP is trading downwards against USD, correcting after strong gains over the past two sessions that pushed the instrument to local highs since July 16. The reason for the further development of "bullish" trend yesterday was the weak position of USD, which reacted to the publication of macroeconomic statistics from the USA. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending July 16 unexpectedly increased from 368K to 419K, which turned out to be worse than market expectations at 350K. Continuing Jobless Claims fell from 3.265M to 3.236M, but fell short of the expected 3.1M. Correctional sentiment reigns in the market today as investors rush to lock in long profits ahead of the weekend. Slight support for GBP is provided by data on Gfk Consumer Confidence. In July, the indicator continued to grow and strengthened from –9 to –7 points, which turned out to be slightly better than the market forecasts at the level of –8 points.
AUD/USD
AUD shows ambiguous dynamics of trading against USD during the Asian session, consolidating near the local highs and the level of 0.7400. The instrument is supported by the weak positions of USD, which is under pressure from the disappointing macroeconomic statistics from the US on jobless claims. At the same time, the further growth of the pair is hindered by the data from Australia, released today. Commonwealth Bank Services PMI in July fell sharply from 56.8 to 44.2 points, which turned out to be worse than the forecasts. Commonwealth Bank Manufacturing PMI also fell from 58.6 to 56.8 points. In turn, the Composite PMI in July fell from 56.7 to 45.2 points.
USD/JPY
USD shows slight gains against JPY in Asian trading, recovering from a slight decline the day before. Yesterday, USD recorded a decline against most of its competitors, responding to the publication of unexpectedly weak macroeconomic statistics from the US on the dynamics of initial jobless claims. However, USD's decline against JPY turned out to be very limited, as investors preferred to return to more risky assets for a while. In addition, there was a day off in Japan yesterday due to the Health and Sports Day. Today, investors are focused on statistics on business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors in the US from Markit. Analysts' forecasts suggest a slight increase in indicators, which is unlikely to provide significant support to USD.
XAU/USD
Gold prices are declining during today's Asian session, developing flat dynamics in the short term. The day before, the instrument renewed its local lows since July 12, responding to the growth of stock indices and a moderate increase in USD rate. However, with the opening of the US trading session, the "bulls" managed to fully recoup, entering the green zone after the publication of disappointing macroeconomic statistics on jobless claims in the USA. Meanwhile, concerns about a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to provide moderate support for gold, as a number of countries are seeing a sharp increase in the number of infections.