The currencies snapshot doesn't really tell the whole story today
The major currencies snapshot may tell you that currencies are little changed on the day but in the past two hours we have actually seen risk currencies i.e. aussie and kiwi pare gains while the yen pared losses to hold some gains ahead of European trading.
USD/JPY was trading around 109.80 levels earlier today but fell to a low of 109.62 after the US proceeded to increase tariffs against $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25%, and China vowed to retaliate in response.
That also saw the likes of AUD/USD and NZD/USD fall to just post mild declines as we await European traders to enter the fray.
The pound and euro are little changed, though at opposite ends against the dollar, as the latter stays firm following a move higher in overnight trading. Nonetheless, changes remain modest and the greenback itself is sort of caught in the middle right now as markets continue to wait on further developments in US-China trade talks.
As mentioned here, escalation in trade tensions may not necessarily mean that a trade deal is off so pay attention to headlines from Washington in the day ahead. For now, expect cautious tones to remain until we get more clues on how things are developing.
