ForexLive European FX news wrap: USD/JPY tentative above 160 mark

Headlines:

• BOJ’s Uchida says closely monitoring yen movement in conducting monetary policy
• BOJ reportedly conducting survey of bond market players over its tapering plans
• ECB’s Kažimír: I think we can expect one more rate cut this year
• BOE says that UK households, businesses are coping with higher rates
• RBA’s Hauser: It would be a bad mistake to set policy on the basis of one number
• Eurozone May M3 money supply +1.6% vs +1.5% y/y expected
• Eurozone June final consumer confidence -14.0 vs -14.0 prelim

Markets:

• EUR and GBP lead, CHF lags on the day
• European equities lower; S&P 500 futures down 0.1%
• US 10-year yields up 1.3 bps to 4.329%
• Gold up 0.8% to $2,315.77
• WTI crude up 0.4% to $80.51
• Bitcoin up 0.4% to $61,183

It was a bit of a sideways session with major currencies lacking any real oomph on the day.

USD/JPY continues to be in focus as it holds above the 160 mark but isn’t running away with things just yet. There is some caution in the air but we’ll see if US traders will have more appetite to test the resolve of Japanese officials later.

The pair hovered around 160.30-50 levels for the most part in European morning trade.

Meanwhile, the dollar is marginally lower on the day but nothing outstanding. EUR/USD is seen holding in a narrow range around 1.0690-00 mostly, with large option expiries in play. AUD/USD was up to around 0.6670 but is now near flat at 0.6650 after RBA deputy governor Hauser played down the latest May CPI report.

In the equities space, European indices are not faring too well again as we get closer to the first round of votes in the French election this weekend. The CAC 40 itself is down 0.6% but the dour mood is mostly widespread. S&P 500 futures are also seen down 0.1% after the late recovery yesterday.

It’s now over to US trading where we’ll get the weekly jobless claims next.

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