Europe Summary and Highlights 18 July
Riskier currencies were generally firmer through a quiet European morning.
European morning session
Riskier currencies were generally firmer through a quiet European morning. EUR/USD gained 15 pips to 1.1635, but the scandis were the best performers, with EUR/NOK down 7 figures and EUR/SEK down 5 figures to 11.87 and 11.26 respectively. There was no clear trigger for scandi strength, and it may just be a correction to the weakness seen earlier in the week. AUD and CAD were also firmer against the USD, up and down 20 pips respectively, but USD/JPY and USD/CHF were little changed, and GBP was steady against the EUR.
There was no news of any note, data being restricted to German PPI which came in in line with consensus at 0.1% m/m in June.
Asia session
Japan June National CPI remained above 3%, with headline at 3.3% y/y, ex fresh food also 3.3% while ex fresh food and energy at 3.4%. With such core-core data continue to point higher, the BoJ will have a difficult time shifting the blame to transitory factor. The BoJ is also expected to revise their inflation forecast higher but unlikely to change forward guidance nor rates. USD/JPY is trading 0.05% higher at 148.68.
The broader risk sentiment is upbeat on Friday. Fed speaker Waller's comment supports an imminent cut while the PBoC took measures to ease seasonal market stress. U.S. three major equity indexes and regional equities are all in the green, except for Japan. AUD/USD is trading 0.21% higher at 0.6501, NZD/USD is also trading 0.33% higher at 0.5950 while USD/CAD slips 0.09%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.22% and GBP/USD is up 0.06%.