FX & market recap:
President Trump used the power of his office to support unemployed workers and employers. Furloughed workers will get $400/week, with individual states asked to kick in another $100/week. He also deferred the employee portion of the payroll tax from Aug 1 until year-end.
Asia stock markets were quiet with Japan and Singapore markets closed. European bourses recouped earlier losses and are all in positive territory as are S&P 500 equity futures. Gold prices are consolidating recent gains, and oil prices are a tad higher. The US and Canada economic calendars are empty.
Canadian dollar highlights:
USD/CAD traded narrowly underpinned by broad US dollar demand. Domestic economic data has been modestly positive. On Friday, Canada added 419,000 jobs in July. Traders were more concerned about the US data, and the US added a better than expected 1.8 million jobs.
Euro highlights:
EUR/USD is suffering from an over-abundance of buyers. The weekly Commitment of Traders reports shows long EUR/USD positions at new record highs, which suggests further gains above 1.1900 will be hard to achieve until the overbought positions subside. The intraday technicals are bearish below 1.1790, and the RSI is overbought.
British pound highlights:
GBP/USD continues to retreat from last week’s peak and is in a minor downtrend while prices are below 1.3080. There weren’t any economic reports, but a report suggesting a third of UK companies are planning layoffs didn’t help sentiment.
Asia Pacific highlights:
USD/JPY consolidated Friday’s post-NFP gains in a narrow 105.73-106.04 range. Increased US/China tensions capped gains. Beijing sanctioned US Senators Cruz and Rubio in response to US actions against Chinese leaders. Meanwhile AUD/USD and NZD/USD traded lower on the back of broad US dollar strength from increased risk aversion sentiment.