European Summary and Highlights 16 July
The USD was slightly softer through a quiet European morning session.
European morning session
The USD was slightly softer through a quiet European morning session. EUR/USD drifted up around 15 pips to 1.09, and USD/JPY fell back around 30 pips to 158.40. There were similar uSD losses elsewhere and not much cross movement, although EUR/CHF edged up in line with EUR/USD.
News was thin, with only the German ZEW survey and the Q2 EU bank lending survey of note. The ZEW survey was broadly in line with expectations although both sentiment and current conditions slipped a little lower. The bank lending survey showed a reported increase in demand for both housing loans and consumer credit for the first time since 2022. This came alongside a further, albeit still moderate, easing in credit standards for home purchases. But consumer credit standards rose a little further and firms faced a further rise in credit standards, albeit much more moderate. Otherwise, although company loan demand fell far less than in the previous (April) BLS, it is still clearly weaker than average but with increased national divergences.
Asia session
It is a relatively quiet session after the market digest Trump's assassination attempt over the weekend. USD is trading broadly higher, especially against JPY and the antipodeans. Both the U.S. Treasury and JGB yields are treading lower. USD/JPY is trading 0.48% higher at 158.71 with the return of verbal intervention.
The antipodeans are also bearing the blunt of USD. Regional sentiment in China and Hong Kong are soft while U.S. three major equity indexes and the Nikkei are positive. AUD/USD slipped 0.37% to 0.6734 and NZD/USD is down 0.43% to 0.6049 while USD/CAD rose 0.08%. Else, EUR/USD is down 0.07% and GBP/USD is down 0.09%.