• US equities finish the week on a soft note
• Key Events and Releases to Watch Next Week in Trading
• Gold rally proves short-lived as it falls $40
• MUFG: BOJ likely to raise rates next month, MOF under pressure to intervene
• Baker Hughes oil rig count -3 to 485
• European equity close: Soft finish but a better week
• US May existing home sales 4.11m vs 4.10m expected
• US June S&P Global flash services PMI 55.1 vs 53.7
• Kickstart the FX trading day for June 21 w/a technical look at the EURUSD, USDJPY & GBPUSD
• Canada May producer price index 0.0% versus 0.5% estimate
• Canada April retail sales +0.7% vs +0.7% expected
• The NZD is the strongest and the GBP is the weakest as the NA sesson begins
• ForexLive European FX news wrap: Euro slips after soggy PMI data

The week is coming to a close with the USD being the strongest of the major currencies. The JPY is the weakest.The gains in the greenback today were helped by stronger-than-expected flash PMI data that saw services index rise to 55.1 vs 53.7 expected, and the manufacturing rise to 51.7 above estimate of 51.0.

For the USDJPY, it rose to the highest level since the April peak when the price traded to 60.208. The high price today reached 159.774.

Going into the new trading week in the USDJPY, a move above the 160.208 level would take the price of the pair to the highest level going back to 1990 where the high for the year reached to 160.40. Move above that level, and the USDJPY is trading at the highest level since January 1987. Those levels are the progression given more upside momentum in the new week.

Of course, the risk exists that the BOJ intervenes. When the price moved above 160.00 the last time, intervention sent the pair quickly down to 155.19 in short order. Another intervention move sent the price from 157.58 to 152.99. The current price is between the two extremes that attracted intervention.

Today, BOJ and Japan officials tried to jawbone the JPY higher( USDJPY lower), but was unsuccessful. Will they be inclined to be more direct next week?

For the trading week, the USD was mixed. The greenback rose vs the JPY, EUR, GBP, CHF, CAD and NZD and fell vs the CAD and AUD. Look at the major pairs:

• USDJPY rose 1.51% (USD higher)
• EURUSD fell -0.11% (USD higher)
• GBPUSD fell -0.342% (USD higher)
• USDCHF rose 0.46% (USD higher)
• USDCAD fell -0.33% (USD lower)
• AUDUSD rose 0.38% (USD lower)
• NZDUSD fell -0.39% (USD higher)

The greenback rose vs the CHF despite the SNB cutting rates this week by 0.25%. The BOE kept rates unchanged but the statement was somewhat dovish and flash PMI data was weakish today.

In other markets today, the US stocks ended the day mixed. For the 2nd consecutive day, the Dow is ending higher (only marginally), while the S&P and the Nasdaq indexes moved lower.

The final numbers for the day are showing:

• Dow Industrial Average average rose 15.57 points or 0.04% at 39150.34.
• S&P index fell -8.55 points or -0.16% at 5464.61
• NASDAQ index fell -32.23 points or -0.18% at 17689.36

The small-cap Russell 2000 rose 4.64 points or 0.23% at 2022.03.

For the trading week the S&P and Dow Industrial Average average rose while the NASDAQ closed the week virtually unchanged:

• Dow Industrial Average average, +1.45%
• S&P index, +0.61%
• Nasdaq index rose 0.48 points which is less than 0.00%, but technically an up week by the slimmest of margins.

This week, the S&P and Nasdaq set new all time high close levels:

• S&P new all-time high close is 5487.02
• Nasdaq new high close is now at 17862.23

In the US debt market:

• 2-year yield 4.736%
• 5-year yield 4.276%.
• 10-year yield 4.257%.
• 30-year yield 4.399%

For the trading week:

• 2 year yield rose 2.9 basis points
• 5 year yield rose 3.6 basis points
• 10-year yield rose 3.4 basis points
• 30- year yield rose 4.9 basis points

Thank you for your support. Have a great weekend

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.