Asia Summary and Highlights 2 July

Trump says that Israel has agreed to a 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal
Asia Session
Trump says that Israel has agreed to a 60-day Gaza ceasefire proposal. However, it remains to be accepted by Hamas. While we love to see progress for peace, it i hard to tell if the terms are good enough for Hamas. USD/JPY is trading 0.21% higher at 143.7 on broad USD strength.
Australian May retail sales continue to disappoint at 0.2% m/m and 3.3% y/y. The soft spending will remain a drag to the overall recovery in the Australian economy and could reinforce RBA’s stance in further cutting. AUD/USD is trading 0.08% lower at 0.6578 with regional equities performing individually, NZD/USD is also down 0.04% to 0.6096 while USD/CAD rose 0.02% to 1.3649. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.09% and GBP/USD is down 0.06%.
North American session
The USD largely erased its European losses in North America. Most pairs returned to levels seen near the European open, though USD/CAD was stronger near 1.3650 from near 1.36, as AUD/CAD rose to .8975 from .8950. The USD was supported by a strong 375k increase in May job openings, and to a lesser extent a rise in June’s ISM manufacturing index to 49.0 from 48.5. Fed’s Powell stated that with inflation expected to rise it was prudent to wait on rates, but he did not rule out a move in July.
The Senate passed a budget bill that adds more debt than the House version. Late in the day Trump said he did not expect a trade deal with Japan which could pay 30% or 35% tariffs and that he was not thinking about extending the tariff pause after July 9. The USD/JPY response was modest, remaining near 143.75, over a big figure above the low. EUR/USD ended near 1.1790, off the low but still below European highs.