Forex news from the European morning session 31 July

News:

  • SNB reports H1 consolidated loss of CHF 50.1bln
  • SNB says it will not pay dividend for 2015 unless results improve
  • Russian central bank cuts key interest rate by 0.5% to 11.0%
  • EU Commission says IMF is fully participating in debt talks in Athens
  • Tsipras says government never had a plan to take Greece out of the euro
  • BOJ leaves JGB buying plan unchanged for August
  • BOJ says they still see weak yen as beneficial for economy
  • AUDUSD finally takes out 0.7250 barrier option
  • Option expiries 10am NY cut today 31 July

Data:

  • Eurozone CPI July provisional yy +0.2% as exp
  • Eurozone unemployment rate June 11.1% vs 11.0% exp
  • German retail sales June mm -2.3 % vs +0.3% exp
  • Italian unemployment June 12.7% vs 12.3% exp
  • Italian CPI July provisional mm -0.1% vs 0.0% exp
  • French PPI June mm -0.2% vs -0.5% prev
  • French consumer spending June mm +0.4% vs +0.5% exp
  • Italian PPI June -0.2% mm vs +0.2% prev
  • Japanese housing starts June +16.3% vs 3.0% prev
  • Nikkei 225 closes up +0.3% at 20,585.24

    • It's been a scrappy month-end session but one that has provided opportunity for those looking for it

    EURGBP has been the gift that keeps on giving with its usual month-end demand driving the pair from 0.7005 to highs of 0.7057 and that has helped underpin the euro generally

    EURUSD had an early move to 1.0960 before falling back below 1.0930 only to then rally strongly to post 1.0989 with a large option expiry at 1,1000 in focus. EURJPY wiped its feet at 136.00 on its way to test the offers at 136.50 with USDJPY finding life comfy above 124.00

    The EURGBP demand gave GBPUSD an early supply and we saw 1.5550 tested from 1.5600 before retracing some of the losses

    USDCHF was undermined by a fall in EURCHF after the SNB posted awful H1 earnings with traders believing that the threat of intervention therefore had diminished and we've seen 0.9614 and 1.0530 before finding buyers again

    AUDUSD finally took out the 0.7250 barrier option as commodity currencies came under fire again with NZDUSD down to 0.6536 and USDCAD up to 1.3063

    It's not going to get any prettier as the day progresses and we should keep eyes on the 15.00 GMT London fix for more month-end flows