Marketwatch EU & UK

Daily Insights
August 8, 2024

  • The US dollar is a little softer against its G10 peers this morning as markets await the latest labor market data. Treasury yields dipped a touch after recent volatility as traders look forward to this afternoon’s weekly jobless claims for further clues on the outlook for the US economy. The softer NFP data suggests claims could break above 250k after last weeks print came in above consensus at 249k versus estimates of 243k. Markets and FOMC policymakers continue to ‘data watch’ with markets currently fully pricing a cut from the FOMC at the September meeting – however, questions remain as to whether officials will reduce by 25bp or 50bp.
  • The Japanese yen remains volatile as markets get used to diverging monetary policies from the BoJ and Federal Reserve. USDJPY rallied after dropping over the past few sessions with markets suggesting that around three quarters of global carry trades are now removed. A summary of the BoJ’s 31 July policy meeting showed that authorities believed that monetary policy would remain accommodative even after they hiked rates, lifting the benchmark rate to 0.25%.
  • EURUSD snapped a two-day losing streak yesterday to consolidate around 1.0935 as the softer greenback boosted the single currency. The pair is supported at the pivotal 1.09 level, with a move above resistance at 1.0964 opening the possibility of a further run to test the key 1.10 level which was briefly breached earlier in the week.

Economic Calendar

:
AUD - RBA Gov Bullock Speaks
:
NZD - Inflation Expectations q/q
:
JPY - 30-y Bond Auction
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JPY - Economy Watchers Sentiment
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USD - Unemployment Claims
:
USD - Final Wholesale Inventories m/m
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USD - Mortgage Delinquencies
:
USD - Natural Gas Storage
:
USD - 30-y Bond Auction
:
USD - FOMC Member Barkin Speaks
:
JPY - M2 Money Stock y/y

Market Indicators

Currency Pairs
Pair High Low
eur/gbp 0.86181 0.8609
gbp/usd 1.27023 1.26784
gbp/aud 1.94813 1.93379
gbp/nzd 2.11897 2.11218
usd/jpy 146.87 145.424
eur/usd 1.09376 1.09233
gbp/jpy 186.368 184.468
eur/cnh 7.85025 7.8175
usd/cnh 7.18407 7.15228
Equities and Commodities
Nasdaq 100 17899.5
DOW 38783.3
S&P 500 5203.07
BRENT CRUDE 78.42
WTI 75.5
GOLD 2393.32

This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute any recommendation or solicitation to any person to enter into any transaction or adopt any trading strategy, nor does it constitute any prediction of likely future movements in exchange rates or prices or any representation that any such future movements will not exceed those shown on any illustration. All exchange rates and figures appearing are for illustrative purposes only. You are advised to make your own independent judgment with respect to any matter contained herein.

About Simon Walker

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Simon Walker is head of the GPS Capital Markets trade desk in our London office where he is responsible for covering market risk in European hours. He has over 25 years’ experience in foreign exchange, working in both sales and trading.