- Aussie and kiwi technicals begin to crack again
- USD/JPY pulled back towards 135.00 as the weekend draws near
- GBP/USD has its sights set on 1.2000 again
- Reminder: It will be a US holiday on Monday
- Eurozone June preliminary CPI +8.6% vs +8.4% y/y expected
- Eurozone June final manufacturing PMI 52.1 vs 52.0 prelim
- UK June final manufacturing PMI 52.8 vs 53.4 prelim
Markets:
- JPY leads, AUD lags on the day
- European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.6%
- US 10-year yields down 2.4 bps to 2.950%
- Gold down 1.1% to $1,786.92
- WTI crude up 2.4% to $108.31
- Bitcoin up 2.1% to $19,140
The selling in equities continues to play out even as we begin the new month/quarter, and that is weighing on the overall mood in markets. The 4th of July weekend coming up in the US may not leave much appetite for a switch in sentiment, so there’s that to consider for now.
In any case, stock futures were heavily sold coming into European trading with S&P 500 futures falling down by 45 points, or 1.3%, before cash markets opened in Europe. That set up for a sour time when the opening bell struck but stocks managed to pare some losses with regional indices turning higher for a brief period.
But as we look towards US trading now, risk appetite is sapped again and European stocks are lower with US futures modestly softer as well. S&P 500 futures are down 22 points, or 0.6%, currently.
The mood in Treasuries also pointed to a more risk-off tendency with yields keeping lower again. 10-year Treasury yields are keeping below 3% and that continues to keep the yen more bid ahead of the weekend.
USD/JPY fell from 135.20 to 134.75 early on before picking up to keep around 135.10-30 levels at the moment.
Elsewhere, the dollar strengthened across the board with the pound and the antipodeans suffering a brutal beatdown. GBP/USD fell hard from 1.2130 to 1.2030 while AUD/USD and NZD/USD are both facing key technical breaks to the downside with the former slipping by 120 pips to below 0.6800 (weakest since June 2020) and the latter down 85 pips 0.6156 (weakest since May 2020) on the day.
This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.