Europe Summary and Highlights 24 July
The USD gained ground through the European morning.
European morning session
The USD gained ground through the European morning. USD/JPY rise 60 pips to 146.60 and EUR/USD dropped 20 pips to 1.1750. The EUR was slightly firmer against GBP and the CHF, but lost ground against the NOK, with EUR/NOK down 4 figures to 11.86. AUD/USD was unchanged at 0.6616, just bellow the year’s high hit overnight. USD/CAD was marginally firmer.
PMIs provided the main news during the morning, with Eurozone PMIs recording a modest improvement, but the UK composite PMI seeing a decline, and this helped trigger EUR/GBP gains to 0.8684, but EUR/GBP slipped back to 0.8675 by the end of the session.
NOK strength came in spite of a rise in the Norwegian unemployment rate to 4.8% in June, although this rise relates to a rise in the labour force rather than a decline in employment, which actually rose slightly in June.
Asia session
US Treasury Secretary Bessent threatens Japan with 25% tariff if Trump is unhappy. The remark came just one day after Trump announced the U.S.-Japan deal. This remark seems to carry some political weight to persuade the Japanese parliament to pass the deal. USD/JPY is trading 0.31% lower at 146.04 with JGB outperform U.S. Treasury Yields.
RBA Governor Bullock's remark regarding inflation seems to be less dovish than most expected. It seems to be prompting the anticipation of an imminent rate cut from the RBA to dissipate. AUD/USD is trading 0.2% higher at 0.6619 with regional equities outperforming U.S. equities, NZD/USD is trading 0.12% higher at 0.6053 while USD/CAD rises 0.05%. Else, EUR/USD is up 0.06% and GBP/USD is down 0.02%.