Subdued Monday bank holiday trading witnesses sterling rise, euro fall and global equity markets move sideways
With markets closed in: London, China and New York, both the equity and the FX markets were relatively subdued. Both the global equity markets (that were open) and the FX markets, moved generally sideways during the day. Sterling was the main gainer amongst the G-10 currency performers, with GBP/USD ending the day up circa 0.3% at 1.2838, clawing back some of the severe 1.5% sell off experienced during last Friday’s trading sessions and the 2% fall suffered last week. Sterling made gains versus all of its main currency peers, especially versus the Swissie, with GBP/CHF closing the day out at circa 1.2547, up circa 0.5%. USD/JPY was little changed, ending the day at circa 111.25. EUR/USD closed out at 1.113, down approx 0.2% on the day.
In his speech delivered in Singapore on Monday, Fed Bank of San Francisco President John Williams reaffirmed his view that a total of three interest rate increases are appropriate for the USA economy during 2017;
“The U.S. economy is about as close to the Fed’s dual-mandate goals as we’ve ever been. With the attainment of our dual-mandate goals close at hand, it’s more important than ever for monetary policy to work toward what I like to call a ‘Goldilocks economy’ -– an economy that doesn’t run too hot or too cold.”
The main high impact news event of the day concerned the president of the ECB. Mario Draghi held court at the European Parliament Economic Committee, in his speech he intimated that the ECB will still maintain an accommodating monetary position, as he’s still concerned the Eurozone economy requires support. This dovish tone caused the euro to surrender many of the gains made when markets opened on Sunday evening, the largest fall experienced came versus sterling, partly due to the bullish mood for sterling, but accentuated by Draghi’s comments; EUR/GBP ended the day at circa 0.869, down circa 0.5%. Euro STOXX 50 ended the day flat, CAC down 0.08% and DAX up 0.21%. USA equity markets were closed. WTI oil ended the day at approx. $49.72 a barrel, up approx 0.3% and gold closed out at at $1267 per ounce, largely unchanged during the day.
Economic calendar events for May 30th all times listed are London GMT time.
06:45, currency impacted EUR. French Gross Domestic Product (YoY) (1Q P). French GDP is expected to remain unchanged, at 0.8% for Q1 2017.
09:00, currency impacted EUR. Euro-Zone Consumer Confidence (MAY F). Consumer confidence is expected to remain unchanged, at -3.3.
12:00, currency impacted EUR. German Consumer Price Index (YoY) (MAY P). CPI is forecast to reduce to 1.6%, from the 2.0% recorded in April.
12:30, currency impacted USD. Real Personal Spending (APR). Personal spending is predicted to fall to 0.2%, from 0.3% in March.
12:30, currency impacted USD. Personal Income (APR). Personal income in the USA is forecast to have increased by 0.4%, from 0.2%.
12:30, currency impacted USD. Personal Consumption Expenditure Core (YoY) (APR). Personal expenditure is expected to fall to 1.5% YoY, from the 1.6% reading recorded in March.
13:00, currency impacted USD. S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-20 (YoY) (MAR). This is one of the most respected house price indices published in the USA, the forecast is for a fall to 5.6%, from the 5.9% reading recorded in February.
14:00, currency impacted USD. Consumer Confidence (MAY). A slight fall to 120, from the April reading of 120.3, is predicted.
