Europe Summary and Highlights 27 August
The USD was generally stronger through the European morning.
European morning session
The USD was generally stronger through the European morning. EUR/USD fell 30 pips to 1.1590 while USD/JPY gained 10 pips to 147.90. GBP held up better than the EUR, with GBP/USD losing just 10 pips to 1.3445. AUD/USD lost 20 pips to 0.6470 and USD/CAD rose 15 pips to 1.3455. EUR/NOK was unchanged and the EUR slipped a little lower against the CHF and SEK.
News was thin on the ground. The German GFK consumer confidence index for September was weaker than expected, following similar weakness in the French consumer confidence numbers on Tuesday. This, combined with continuing concerns about the French Budget ahead of a confidence vote next month, may have contributed to the softer EUR.
Asia session
The July monthly CPI came in hot for Australia at 2.8% y/y with a 0.9% m/m. It definitely calms speculation of consecutive cuts from the RBA. Yet, we do not see a significant deviation from our forecast and continue to forecast one more cut from the RBA in 2025. AUD/USD is trading 0.11% lower at 0.6487 on choppy regional sentiment, NZD/USD is down 0.25% at 0.5846 while USD/CAD rises 0.02%.
There has not been much update from the Trump-Cook fiasco and we see USD recovered all of Tuesday's losses. While U.S. Treasury yields are performing individually, USD/JPY are retesting Tuesday's high. USD/JPY is trading 0.41% higher at 147.92. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.21% and GBP/USD is down 0.19%.