Here’s what you need to know on Monday, June 17:
At the beginning of the week, the US dollar (USD) remains resistant to attacks from its main rivals, with the US dollar index maintaining moderate gains above 105.50 after closing the previous week in positive territory. In the absence of publication of the most essential macroeconomic data, investors will pay particular attention to comments from central bankers.
After struggling to find demand based on cushioned US inflation data in the middle of last week, the US dollar benefited from the Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone and a risk-averse market atmosphere. Early Monday, U.S. stock index futures were virtually unchanged on the day, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond holding steady above 4.2%.
PRICE in US dollars Last 7 days
The table below shows the percentage change of the United States Dollar (USD) against the major currencies listed over the last 7 days. The US dollar was strongest against the euro.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | BOOR | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.97% | 0.40% | 0.35% | -0.13% | -0.23% | -0.11% | -0.75% | |
| EUR | -0.97% | -0.22% | -0.37% | -0.84% | -0.92% | -0.82% | -1.45% | |
| GBP | -0.40% | 0.22% | -0.02% | -0.61% | -0.70% | -0.60% | -1.24% | |
| JPY | -0.35% | 0.37% | 0.02% | -0.46% | -0.63% | -0.54% | -1.02% | |
| BOOR | 0.13% | 0.84% | 0.61% | 0.46% | -0.06% | 0.02% | -0.63% | |
| AUD | 0.23% | 0.92% | 0.70% | 0.63% | 0.06% | 0.10% | -0.54% | |
| NZD | 0.11% | 0.82% | 0.60% | 0.54% | -0.02% | -0.10% | -0.65% | |
| CHF | 0.75% | 1.45% | 1.24% | 1.02% | 0.63% | 0.54% | 0.65% |
The heat map shows the percentage changes of the major currencies relative to each other. The base currency is selected from the left column and the quote currency from the top row. For example, if you select the US dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
During Asian trading hours, data from China showed retail sales rose 3.7% year-over-year in May. This reading followed a 2.3% enhance recorded in April and was better than market expectations of a 3% enhance. On a negative note, industrial production grew by 5.6% over the same period, below analyst estimates of a 6% enhance. The Shanghai Composite Index fell more than 0.5% on mixed data from China, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was unchanged on the day.
In May, the number of ANZ job postings in Australia decreased by 2.1% month-on-month. After closing the last two trading days of the previous week at a negative level, AUD/USD on Monday at the beginning of the European session, it continued to decline and was last traded near the 0.6600 level. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will announce monetary policy decisions on Tuesday in the early Asian session.
The Australian dollar remains on the defensive near 0.6600 after the Fed delivers one rate cut this year.
EUR/USD lost almost 1% in the previous week, under pressure from broad-based USD strength. The pair is struggling to recover at the start of the European session and is trading at around 1.0700.
GBP/USD remains under moderate bearish pressure and is trading below 1.2700 after closing negative for the second week in a row. The Office for National Statistics will release inflation data on Wednesday, before the Bank of England announces its monetary policy decisions on Thursday.
USD/JPY hit its highest level since delayed April above 158.00 on Friday, while the Japanese yen struggled to find demand amid the Bank of Japan’s decisions to leave policy unchanged. After a downward correction heading into the weekend, the pair appears to have settled around 157.50 to start the novel week.
Gold gained bullish momentum and on Friday it gained over 1% per day, ending the week in positive territory and breaking a three-week losing streak. However, the XAU/USD pair lost strength during Asian trading hours and fell below $2,320 on Monday, where it was down more than 0.5% on the day.
