Wednesday June 19th, 2024

The USD is off slightly, equities markets are up, Treasury yields are flat while oil trades lower. U.S. retail sales barely rose in May and previous month's figures were revised downward, suggesting that economic activity remained weak in the second quarter. Light day on the economic data front.

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In other news.? North Korea’s Kim expressed "unconditional support" for "all of Russia's policies", including "a full support and firm alliance" for Russia's war with Ukraine. The West fears that this could leas to Russia helping Kim’s nuclear and missile programs. Netanyahu’s assertion that the US is withholding arm shipments to Israel is rejected by the Biden’s administration.

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In currency news. The CNY was little changed near seven-month lows against the USD, as the central bank aims to prevent it from excess fluctuation. The RBA’s hawkish sounding comments led the market to scale back the probability of a rate cut this year from 64% to 36%. The ZAR firms up to 11-month high, local inflation in focus. The USD is marginally higher against the Asian currencies (CNY +0.04%, JPY 0.03%). The AUD rallied 0.20% against the USD, while the NZD lost 0.18%. Trading currencies are mixed with the ZAR strengthening 0.24% and the MXN losing 0.10% against the greenback.

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In commodity markets.?Oil steady amid U.S. stock build but war jitters abound. Gold prices edged up (0.06%) after data suggesting lacklustre U.S. economic activity keeping alive hopes for at least one interest rate cut this year. Copper is higher (1.4%) this morning as market focuses on shortages and funds buying. Both wheat and soybeans are flat as we start the day.

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Current level USD Index???????????????105.235 ? ? ? ? ? ?Down 0.02%

The USD/CAD lost some ground against the C$ on the back of yesterday’s lower than expected retail sales. Extended crude oil price has also given some support for the C$.

Current level USD/CAD???????????????1.3709???????????? Down 0.06%

The EUR/CAD rebounded from a 1-month low but remains under pressure. ?

Current level EUR/CAD????????????????1.4726??????????? Down 0.04%

EUR/USD trades sideways as investors look for fresh cues on the Fed and the ECB interest-rate outlook.

Current level EUR/USD????????????????1.0742??????????? Up 0.03%

The GBP/EUR remains strong after UK data showed continued underlying pressure on prices which suggest that the BoE will wait longer before cutting rates.

Current level GBP/EUR???? 1.1832 (0.8447)????????Flat

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The GBP/USD edges higher as sticky UK service CPI dents BoE early rate-cut bets.

Current level GBP/USD????????????????1.2680 ???????????Down 0.19%