Here is what you need to know on Thursday, June 20:
The market action was subdued on Wednesday because US markets were closed in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Bank of England (BoE) monetary policy announcements could ramp up volatility during the European trading hours on Thursday. Later in the day, the US economic docket will feature weekly Jobless Claims and Building Permits data for May. Investors will continue to pay close attention to comments from Federal Reserve (Fed) officials as well.
The US Dollar (USD) Index registered small losses on Wednesday. With the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield edging higher early Thursday, the USD Index recovered a portion of this week's losses. In the meantime, US stock index futures trade mixed in the European morning. Nasdaq Futures are up more than 0.5% while Dow Futures trade marginally lower on the day.
US Dollar PRICE This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.25% | -0.15% | 0.49% | -0.20% | -0.78% | -0.02% | -0.77% | |
| EUR | 0.25% | 0.12% | 0.76% | 0.05% | -0.62% | 0.29% | -0.51% | |
| GBP | 0.15% | -0.12% | 0.74% | -0.08% | -0.76% | 0.14% | -0.62% | |
| JPY | -0.49% | -0.76% | -0.74% | -0.60% | -1.26% | -0.37% | -1.20% | |
| CAD | 0.20% | -0.05% | 0.08% | 0.60% | -0.63% | 0.19% | -0.54% | |
| AUD | 0.78% | 0.62% | 0.76% | 1.26% | 0.63% | 0.97% | 0.13% | |
| NZD | 0.02% | -0.29% | -0.14% | 0.37% | -0.19% | -0.97% | -0.74% | |
| CHF | 0.77% | 0.51% | 0.62% | 1.20% | 0.54% | -0.13% | 0.74% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The BoE is widely anticipated to leave monetary policy settings unchanged following the June policy meeting. There will not be a press conference, and the bank might refrain from making significant changes to its policy meeting ahead of the July 4 election. GBP/USD stays under modest bearish pressure and trades slightly above 1.2700 to start the European session.
The SNB is forecast to lower the policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 1.25%. USD/CHF fell sharply at the beginning of the week and touched its weakest level since mid-March below 0.8830. The pair has been consolidating channel slightly below 0.8850 since then.
EUR/USD posted small gains on Wednesday but lost its traction after meeting resistance near 1.0750. The pair trades in negative territory at around 1.0730 in the European morning on Thursday. The European Commission will publish preliminary Consumer Confidence data for June later in the day.
USD/JPY registered gains for the fifth straight day on Wednesday. The pair continue to stretch higher early Thursday and was last seen trading above 158.00.
Gold failed to make a noticeable move in either direction on Wednesday and closed the day virtually unchanged. XAU/USD gathers bullish momentum in the European morning and was last seen trading above $2,340.
