★★★ July 30: forex news ★★★
Monday, July 30, 2012 - 05:51
The market was rather quiet during today’s Asian session; the major pairs were going through consolidation.
Investors’ attention will be focused on peripheral euro zone nations: Spanish flash Q2 GDP is released at 07:00 GMT (prev.: -0.3%, cons.: -0.4%). Later in the day Italy plans to sell 5.5 billion euro in long-term debt, including 10-year bonds. Current Italian 10-year bond yield is below 6% at 5.96%. Bloomberg reports that the European Commission will publish today household sentiment which may have dropped in July to almost 3-year minimum. In addition, euro is under pressure before data tomorrow may show that the region’s unemployment increased to a new record of 11.2% in June.
The ECB President Mario Draghi meets US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today, though no press conference will follow. Moody’s Investors Service warned that the ECB can’t resolve the debt crisis alone.
EUR/USD is trading in the $1.2292 area, about 100 pips below Friday’s peak. US dollar edged up against higher-yielding currencies, though demand for it is limited before the Fed’s 2-day meeting which starts on Tuesday. USD/JPY returned to 78.35 after testing the levels above 78.60 at the end of last week.