US Dollar Aims Higher on European Turmoil, Fed Outlook Rethink

There have been mixed themes coursing through forex markets so far today. The Euro has come under general pressure, pushing EUR-USD under 1.1430, down from the two-week high posted during the early London interbank session at 1.1473, and EUR-JPY over 60 pips lower from highs to a two-session low at 128.36. The decline has been concomitant with a spike in Italian yields to one-month highs following a lack of progress at the Eurogroup meeting, which finished with Italian officials accusing the EU of stone-walling them. Yen outperformance, meanwhile, has driven USD-to a three-week low at 112.31. At the same time, AUD-JPY and EUR-JPY hit respective eight- and two-session lows. The Yen has been underpinned by a coursing bearish sentiment in global equity markets, which have been led lower by a pronounced tech sector sell off and a broader concern about the state of relations between the U.S. and China. The Nikkei 225 closed 1.1% for the worse, and China’s SSE index finished 2.1% lower. S&P 500 futures were showing losses of over 0.5% in the overnight session, after the cash index close on Wall Street with a 1.7% decline. The Aussie dollar has come under pressure as the Australian economy feels the chill breeze of the Sino-U.S. trade war. Preliminary trade talks between the U.S. and China ahead of the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting at the G20 meeting in Argentina at the end of the month have now been cancelled.