On Wednesday, June 28th, a panel discussion at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra will feature key figures such as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, and Bank of Japan’s Kazuo Ueda. Additionally, the US economic agenda will include the release of the Goods Trade Balance for May, while the Fed will announce the results of the Bank Stress Test later in the day.
Despite impressive growth in New Home Sales and an improved CB Consumer Confidence Index in June, the US Dollar (USD) maintained its strength against other currencies on Thursday. However, the currency failed to gain significant bullish momentum due to the prevailing risk-positive market sentiment. Early on Wednesday, the US Dollar Index maintained slight daily gains above 102.50, while US stock index futures traded moderately lower.
During Asian trading hours, Australia reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 5.6% on a yearly basis in May. This figure followed a 6.8% rise in April and fell below market expectations of 6.1%. As a result of the subdued inflation data, AUD/USD declined to its lowest level in three weeks, below 0.6650.
EUR/USD exhibited strong gains on Tuesday, reaching towards 1.1000. Prior to the ECB event, the currency pair remained within a consolidation range around 1.0950.
GBP/USD faced challenges in maintaining its position and traded below 1.2750 on Wednesday, following a positive close on Tuesday.
USD/JPY continued its rally, reaching a new multi-month high of 144.20 on Tuesday. Japan’s top currency diplomat, Masato Kanda, expressed a sense of urgency in monitoring currency movements and promised appropriate responses if they become excessive. As a result of these comments, the pair remains stable around 144.00.
Gold failed to benefit from the broad weakness of the US Dollar on Tuesday, as US Treasury bond yields experienced a rebound. XAU/USD remained under pressure, trading at its lowest level since early March, near $1,910.
