Market Overview – July 17th
Here’s a quick look at what’s happening on Thursday, July 17th:
After some ups and downs on Wednesday, the US Dollar (USD) is expected to strengthen against other currencies this morning. Investors are also looking ahead to the US Economic Calendar, which will present weekly unemployment claims and retail sales data for June. On top of that, several Federal Reserve officials are set to make speeches later today.
This Week’s US Dollar Performance
The following table illustrates how the US dollar has changed in value against other currencies this week, showing that it’s particularly strong against the Australian dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.67% | 0.80% | 1.01% | 0.31% | 1.53% | 1.47% | 0.81% | |
| EUR | -0.67% | 0.10% | 0.34% | -0.38% | 0.82% | 0.78% | 0.12% | |
| GBP | -0.80% | -0.10% | 0.18% | -0.47% | 0.73% | 0.68% | 0.17% | |
| JPY | -1.01% | -0.34% | -0.18% | -0.59% | 0.50% | 0.49% | -0.17% | |
| CAD | -0.31% | 0.38% | 0.47% | 0.59% | 1.21% | 1.16% | 0.51% | |
| AUD | -1.53% | -0.82% | -0.73% | -0.50% | -1.21% | -0.07% | -0.70% | |
| NZD | -1.47% | -0.78% | -0.68% | -0.49% | -1.16% | 0.07% | -0.65% | |
| CHF | -0.81% | -0.12% | -0.17% | 0.17% | -0.51% | 0.70% | 0.65% |
The heatmap provides an overview of how the major currencies are performing against each other. The values represent the percentage change from the base currency listed in the left column to the estimated currency in the top row.
On Wednesday, CBS News reported a concerning development involving US President Donald Trump asking Republican lawmakers about Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. This news caused the USD to encounter some bearish pressure, leading to a decline in the USD index that halted its four-day winning streak. Trump later mentioned that a trade deal with India is nearly finalized, along with prospects for agreements with Europe. This morning, the USD index saw a slight recovery, rising about 0.5% to around 98.70 amidst mixed trading in US stock futures.
From the UK, the National Statistics Office (ONS) announced that the ILO unemployment rate climbed to 4.7% from 4.6% since May. The report also highlighted an increase of 134,000 in employment changes, compared to a previous increase of 89,000. Following this development, GBP/USD remained low, trading below 1.3400.
EUR/USD fluctuated below 1.1600 after moderate gains on Wednesday. Eurostat is expected to revise the consumer price index data for June later in the day.
Meanwhile, data from Australia showed that the unemployment rate in June rose from 4.1% to 4.3%, with full-time employment decreasing by 38.2K. As a result, AUD/USD dropped to nearly 0.6460, marking a three-week low and facing significant selling pressure, losing about 1% today.
After a substantial decline on Wednesday, USD/JPY reversed course and gained over 0.5%, reaching around 148.70 on Thursday. Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Aoko Nishiko expressed concern about the fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, specifically regarding speculative activities.
Gold benefitted from declining US Treasury bond yields, showing positive movement after closing above $3,330 on Wednesday. However, it struggled to maintain this momentum earlier on Thursday.
