North American Summary and Highlights 8 Jul
Overview - The USD was generally stronger with UST yields, led by USD/JPY, though finished off its highs.
North American session
The USD strengthened in the North American morning with UST yields rising and equities quiet. There was little data, apart from a marginally softer NFIB small business survey where the price index increased. Trump said there would be no extensions to the August 1 tariff deadline.
The USD came of its highs in the afternoon, while remaining up on the day. EUR/USD found support below 1.17, and recovered to 1.1725. with Trump stating that the US was probably two days off sending the EU a letter on tariffs, and that the EU had recently been “nice”. Trump also stated he would tariff copper at 50%. USD/JPY peaked just below 147 and corrected to 146.70. GBP/USD recovered to near 1.36 after falling to 1.3525. AUD/USD held above pre-RBA levels. EUR/JPY reached 172.
European morning session
GBP fell back but most other currencies were little changed through the European morning. EUR/GBP gained 25 pips to 0.8635, reversing the decline seen in Tuesday’s session. UK and European yields were significantly higher on the session, without an obvious trigger. EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1740, while USD/JPY was modestly higher at 146.27. EUR/JPY made a new 1 year high at 171.84 mid-session before dropping back.
There wasn’t much news of note, with May trade numbers from France and Germany the only data. The German surplus was a little larger than expected, while the French deficit was in line with consensus.