Europe Summary and Highlights 16 August
The USD was mostly weaker through the European morning.
European morning session
The USD was mostly weaker through the European morning, losing ground against the JPY, AUD and GBP, while EUR/USD was not much changed. USD/JPY dropped back to 148.60 after opening near 149, while AUD/USD edged up 10 pips to 0.6640 and GBP/USD gained 20 pips to trade just below 1.29. EUR/CHF fell back 30 pips to 0.9545.
The morning was generally fairly quiet, with the UK retail sales numbers the only data of note. These were essentially in line with expectations, showing a 0.5% m/m rise in headline sales with both headline and core up 1.4% y/y. But GBP nevertheless made some gains against the EUR after the data, as the retail sales trend continues to improve.
Asia session
The Q2 New Zealand PPI has beaten estimate in both input and output category. Both rose above 1% when they are expected to further moderate. Such may be a speed bump in RBNZ's plan of easing all the way till 2026 to 3%. The broad risk mood is positive with regional equity indexes in Japan and Hong Kong outperforming. NZD/USD is trading 0.45% higher at 0.6011, AUD/USD also 0.2% higher while USD/CAD slips 0.03%.
USD is trading broadly softer against majors on Friday. U.S. Treasury yields are lower across the curve while JGB yields rose, seems to be supporting the JPY so far. USD/JPY is trading 0.27% lower at 148.87. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.08% and GBP/USD is up 0.14%.