Trading today will be mired by thin liquidity with UK and US traders away
And you can also expect more of the same in the coming month too with the World Cup beginning on 14 June. The World Cup is taking place in Russia this year, and the kick off times are mostly in the late afternoon to evening. That should lead to some early (or earlier at least) end to the trading day for European traders especially ahead of big games or if their national team is playing.
It's not uncommon to have the TVs in the trading floor all tuned into matches during events like this (it happens here in Asia too *wink wink*) and if majority of the floor is fixated on it, everyone else will be too.
If you're unsure about the sort of impact it has on liquidity, you can check out a study here conducted by none other than the ECB themselves. Though the study is focused on the stock market, it's pretty much one in the same. Here's another study while we're at it.
While it's certainly not going to make a major difference to the market (considering the kick off times), you can expect some range bound trading or at least more quieter days in the market if there isn't much on the data front - barring any headline risks of course.
------
