Summary:
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Equities in Europe march higher for the fifth consecutive session
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Precious metals pull back amid USD strengthening
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Investors wait for the US GDP reading
Equities from the Old Continent are adding to their recent gains in the first half of Friday’s trading. However, Polish and Russian equities that has outperformed their peers from other European countries in the recent days are pulling back minorly today. CAD and JPY are outperforming all the other majors today while CHF and SEK account the biggest losses. On the commodity front we are observing a pull back among precious metals on the back of the USD strengthening. Oil trades relatively flat. Keep in mind that additional volatility may spur on the USD tied FX pairs in the afternoon as the US GDP report for second quarter is scheduled for release (1:30 pm BST).
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Open real account TRY DEMO Download mobile app Download mobile appFirstly, let’s mention Mastercard’s CEO as he criticized virtual currencies. Ajay Banga named cryptocurrencies “junk” due to their high volatility and degree of anonymity they present. While Banja may be an opponent of virtual currencies it should be noted that his company explores the potential of the blockchain technology.
The Bank clearly communicated that nobody should expect any interest rates hikes until the end of the summer next year. When asked about some misinterpretations of the June’s statements Draghi said that the only version of each statement the Governing Council agrees on is the English version. Having these words in mind one may conclude that the June’s statement was quite unequivocal.
The Friday’s session across the currency market has been passing quite calmly so far without any sudden moves. Either way, over the recent days major attention has been paid to the Japanese central bank which is going to meet as soon as next week. Let us recall that market participants were offered rumours on the last Friday that the BoJ could tweak its monetary policy.
According to the median estimate the US economy expanded at the decent 4.2% pace during the three months through June in annual terms which would be a solid number after the somewhat disappointing first quarter. Notice that the US President Donald Trump weighed in this time as well and broke with a long-standing convention to not comment on any macroeconomic release.
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