Europe Summary and Highlights 5 June
EUR/USD and USD/JPY were little changed through the European morning, but commodity currencies were better bid.
EUR/USD and USD/JPY were little changed through the European morning, but commodity currencies were better bid. AUD/USD gained 20 pips to 0.6510 and USD/CAD fell 25 pips to 1.3655. EUR/CHF was also firmer, rising 15 pips to 0.9360, while EUR/GBP slipped marginally lower in generally slightly risk positive trading.
The main data of note was the Swedish flash CPI data for May, which came in below expectations at 2.3% y/y on the targeted CPIF measure. This initially triggered modest SEK losses, with EUR/SEK reaching a peak at 10.9650, but the rise was reversed by the end of the session. German factory orders were a little stronger than expected at 0.6% m/m in April, suggesting a mild improvement in the underlying trend.
Asia session
While under the pressure of U.S. tariffs, the Japan April labor cash earning continues to grow above 2% at 2.3% y/y. It seems to suggest Japanese business did not turn towards cutting cost from wage but it is not completely out of the woods yet as the majority of tariff talk comes after April. Yet, with real wage stays negative and falling JGB yields, JPY gets little support and see USD/JPY trades 0.17% higher at 143.
The Australian economics release on Thursday are mixed. With export missing at -2.4% m/m, import returned to expansion at 1.1%. Australian Household spending at 3.7% y/y suggest private consumption is indeed gaining traction. Regional equities, expect Japanese equities, are outperforming U.S. major equity indexes. AUD/USD is unchanged at 0.6492, NZD/USD is trading 0.07% higher at 0.6029 while USD/CAD is unchanged. Else ,EUR/USD and GBP/USD is down 0.06%.