FX Update – July 15 – A Softer USD persists

EURUSD, H1

The Dollar has remained on a softening track against most other currencies, while the Euro has remained broadly underpinned amid expectations for EU leaders to green-light the proposed EUR 750 bln recovery fund this week. The Pound managed to rebound after underperforming over the prior two days. Risk appetite has been buoyant, with European and Asia stock markets rallying and US equity index futures gaining, underpinned by news that US biotech company Moderna’s candidate vaccine for the SARS Cov-2 coronavirus was shown in an early-stage trial to be safe while successfully provoking immune responses in all 45 of the volunteers. News from Oxford, UK¹, too, that more progress is being made on the vaccine front also helped lift sentiment and equity markets.

The narrow trade-weighted USDIndex carved out a fresh one-month low at 95.80, drawing in on the four-and-a-half-month low seen in June at 95.72. EURUSD rallied to its highest level since early March at 1.1445. Cable rallied to a two-day high at 1.2626, extending a strong rebound from Tuesday’s eight-day low at 1.2479. The rise in Cable wasn’t just a softer dollar story, as the Pound concurrently rebounded against the Euro, driving EURGBP to a 0.9051 low, extending a correction from yesterday’s two-week high at 0.9115. GBPJPY also lifted to a two-day high. USDJPY drifted under 107.00, expecting a moderate correction from yesterday’s one-week high at 107.44. The risk-sensitive AUDJPY cross printed a five-week high at 75.29. AUDUSD similarly reached a five-week peak, at 0.7020. The BoJ left policy unchanged, as had been widely anticipated. Governor Kuroda maintained dovish guidance, noting that there remain various tools that could be utilized for further easing.

Ahead of the BOC later, USDCAD has ebbed to a two-day low at 1.3560, weighed down by a combination of the broader US dollar softness and a broadly firmer Canadian currency, which has been concomitant with a bout of risk-on positioning in global markets. Front-month USOil futures have rotated higher following a phase of sub-$40 pricing, printing a six-day high at $40.93, which has been supportive of oil-correlating currencies, including the Canadian Dollar. Gold continues to wind higher, trading to a four-day high at $1815 earlier, before cooling to $1805 currently.

¹https://www.itv.com/news/2020-07-15/positive-news-is-coming-on-oxford-covid-19-vaccine-writes-robert-peston

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Stuart Cowell

Head Market Analyst

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