Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei down 0.60 %, Shanghai Composite fell 0.40 %, Hang Seng declined 1.40 %, ASX lost 1.10 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1137.90 (+0.90 %), Silver at $15.38 (+1.30 %), WTI Oil at $40.98 (-0.75 %), Brent Oil at $46.90 (+0.05 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 2.12, UK 10 year yield at 1.83, German 10 year yield at 0.62
News & Data:
- Japan Tankan Index 17.0 (prev 14.0)
- PBOC Fixes Yuan Reference Rate At 6.3915 (prev 6.3963)
- Most Fed Officials In July Saw Conditions For Rate Hike Nearing – BBG
- FOMC Minutes: Members 'Generally Agreed' More Info Needed To Hike
- FOMC Minutes: Some Participants Not Yet Seen Evidence Inflation Moving To 2%
- FOMC Minutes: One Member Indicated They Were Ready To Raise Rates In July
Markets Update:
The US Dollar weakened after the release of the FOMC minutes, which were perceived as rather dovish. The Euro benefited the most from this, with EUR/USD rallying to a high of 1.1150. The reaction in the other major pairs was rather muted, with GBP/USD still trading below 1.57. USD/JPY fell to a low of 123.70 briefly after the release, but quickly recovered, almost reaching 124.00 earlier. Given that the minutes were not overly dovish, it is likely the 123.70-125.25 range will remain intact for a while.
Price action in the Aussie and Kiwi Dollar has been very quiet this week, partly because of the lack of economic data releases out of Australia & NZ. AUD/USD traded 0.7340-70 overnight (it started the trading week at 0.7370), while NZD/USD spent the Asian session in a 0.6590-0.6620 range (the week‘s opening level being 0.6540 here).
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 BST – German PPI
- 07:00 BST – Swiss Trade Balance
- 07:30 BST – Bank of Japan Press Conference
- 07:45 BST – FOMC Member Willaims speaks
- 09:00 BST – Norwegian GDP
- 09:30 BST – UK Retail Sales
- 13:30 BST – US Initial Jobless Claims
- 15:00 BST – US Existing Home Sales
- 15:00 BST – Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index
