It has been that kind of the week in European trading for the most part. The action is rather minimal as traders continue to wait on US-Iran headlines, especially with much resting on the next round of talks. US president Trump offered up much optimism at the start of the week and that helped to goose risk sentiment higher, in turn weighing on the dollar. However, that narrative is getting a little weary amid a lack of real progress yet to be seen.
For now, Pakistan is working to mediate the situation further and getting Iran back to the negotiating table. While there are some positive murmurs that the US and Iran are able to agree on most things, the two most important things are the ones that they still cannot come to terms with. The first being the US wanting Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions and the second is for the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
As such, that is keeping broader markets on edge as we continue to wait on further headlines and developments on where this is all going. And more importantly, if the market optimism from the start of the week will be vindicated.
The dollar is keeping steadier today with EUR/USD once again backing off from the 1.1800 mark. The pair is down 0.2% to 1.1775 currently.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY has more or less made the round trip to sit back a little higher by 0.1% to 159.10 after having been dumped lower to as low as 158.26 following some verbal jawboning by Tokyo officials. In case you missed it earlier:
- Japan's finance minister Katayama said to intensify communication with Bessent
- Japan’s Katayama says closely watching FX as oil volatility hits yen
Besides that, the changes are relatively light among other dollar pairs with USD/CAD flat at 1.3735 and AUD/USD also flat on the day at 0.7167 currently.
The broader risk mood is also steadier but not really following up on the Wall Street rally from yesterday. S&P 500 futures are flat at the moment while Nasdaq futures are marginally up by just 0.1%.
