Forex news from the European morning session - 25 July 2019
Headlines:
- CBRT announces cut to one-week repo rate to 19.75% from 24.00%
- UK PM Johnson: Our mission is to deliver Brexit on 31 October
- UK July CBI retailing reported sales -16 vs -15 expected
- The entire Swiss yield curve has now turned negative
- Ifo economist says that German economy faces a turbulent time ahead
- Germany July Ifo business climate index 95.7 vs 97.2 expected
- China says purchase of US agricultural goods have nothing to do with restarting of trade talks
Markets:
- JPY leads, NZD lags on the day
- European equities mixed; E-minis up 0.1%
- US 10-year yields down 1.5 bps to 2.026%
- Gold flat at $1,426.55
- WTI up 1.0% to $56.42
- Bitcoin up 4.2% to $10,083
It's been a relatively calm session for the most part as markets are keenly waiting on the ECB policy decision to come in just under half an hour. Currencies were little changed overall with the aussie and kiwi slightly weaker but nothing too discernible.
The euro bounced around against the dollar with EUR/USD being nudged to a low of 1.1122 during the session after weaker German data before rebounding to 1.1149 on profit-taking ahead of the ECB.
The pound also crept higher against the greenback, rising from 1.2475 to a high of 1.2500 before settling just under there ahead of the UK parliamentary recess until September.
The ranges among major currencies remain more subdued with the yen holding just a tad firmer as bond yields slipped in anticipation of the ECB possibly introducing stimulus at today's meeting rather than waiting until September.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, we saw the central bank cut rates by a larger amount than expected but so far the lira is holding more resilient as it has firmed in the aftermath. That's a good sign for the currency as it shows that this isn't a repeat of the unfriendly (for investors at least, for currency traders it was a beauty) volatility in 2018.
Looking ahead, it's all about the anticipation ahead of the ECB decision now before we get to Draghi's press conference at 1230 GMT.
