ForexLive European FX news wrap: ECB tries to justify rate cut, gold dips on China

Headlines:

• Gold takes a dip on headline that China halts reserves buying after 18-month stretch
• Why gold dropped on the headline about China halting reserves buying?
• ECB’s Holzmann: I was the only one against a rate cut
• ECB’s Centeno: The message is one of confidence in the disinflation process
• ECB’s Villeroy: We will move at appropriate pace on rate cuts
• ECB’s Schnabel: We cannot pre-commit to a particular rate path
• ECB’s Rehn: Inflation will continue to decline
• ECB’s de Guindos: Inflation is to be around 2% next year
• ECB’s Nagel: The decision to cut rates was not premature
• ECB’s Šimkus: It is possible that there will be more than one rate cut this year
• ECB’s Nagel: Policy is not auto pilot when it comes to rate cuts
• Eurozone Q1 final GDP +0.3% vs +0.3% q/q second estimate
• Germany April industrial production -0.1% vs +0.3% m/m expected
• Germany April trade balance €22.1 billion vs €22.6 billion expected
• France April trade balance -€7.58 billion vs -€5.47 billion prior
• UK May Halifax house prices -0.1% vs +0.2% m/m expected

Markets:

• JPY leads, NZD lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
• US 10-year yields up 1.9 bps to 4.300%
• Gold down 1.7% to $2,334.82
• WTI crude up 0.6% to $76.05
• Bitcoin up 1.0% to $71,395

It was mostly a session waiting on the US jobs report later. But there were a decent number of headlines to keep things moving along. And they were mostly all from the ECB, as policymakers were out en masse to try and justify the decision to cut rates yesterday.

Their commentary added nothing new to the picture though, with July being too soon for the next rate cut. September remains open but will be subject to the data in the next few months.

Major currencies kept more muted as such, with all the anticipation surrounding the non-farm payrolls data later. The dollar is steadier and keeping little changed overall. Dollar pairs are holding within 0.1% change of one another throughout the day. Talk about a snoozefest.

Equities remain more tentative, with European stocks retreating amid the perceived “hawkish cut” by the ECB yesterday. US futures remain more muted ahead of the main event later.

Instead, precious metals were the big mover on the session. Gold took a dive after China halts buying for its reserves, following an 18-month streak in doing so. Are prices getting a bit too high perhaps? In any case, gold fell from $2,370 to $2,335 now. Meanwhile, silver was also dragged down in a push lower from $31.20 to $30.42 currently.

It’s over to the US jobs report next.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.