All eyes on this weekend's Greek referendum and the potential aftermath


Overview

Focus this week has remained on Greece with the passing of the IMF’s payment deadline failing to bring a culmination to the saga. Greek PM Tsipras ended last week by calling a referendum on whether the Greek public should accept their creditors imposed conditions on further loans, leading to EUR opening substantially lower on Monday morning. EUR then strengthened over the first half of the week to reach last week’s levels amid a flood of source comments, with EUR/USD breaking above the 1.1200 handle amid news of Greece offering to accept EU’s Juncker’s latest proposal with some alterations and rumours that the referendum may be cancelled.

The rest of the week saw positive sentiment fade with EUR/USD ending the week around the 1.1100 handle heading into the risk event (Greek referendum) over the weekend after Tsipras went on to state that not only would the referendum go ahead, but by lobbying for a `No` vote. Heading into the weekend, polls suggest that the `Yes` and `No` vote are neck and neck. This has helped bolster USD, with the greenback ending the week firmly in green despite a spate of weak US data, including a lower than expected Nonfarm payroll report (223K vs. Exp. 233K, Prev. 280K, Rev. 254K) on Thursday ahead of the Independence day long weekend.

Antipodeans have been under pressure throughout the week, with NZD weighed on by a poor Fonterra Milk Auction, seeing the currency decline against the USD for the 11th consecutive week, with NZD currently the worst performing currency YTD. Elsewhere, AUD ends the session near 6 year lows after disappointing Retail Sales (0.3% vs. Exp. 0.5%), with soft Chinese HSBC PMI readings further weighed on the currency.

Looking ahead, next week will see the aftermath of the Greek referendum with both the Greek government and their creditors currently partaking in Brinkmanship as Tsipras has stated he will resign if there is a `Yes` vote and creditors suggesting that a `No` vote is a vote for Grexit. Elsewhere, next week sees the RBA Rate Decision, US FOMC Meeting Minutes, UK budget statement and BoE Rate Decision as well as a host of Fed speakers.


Recommended Content


Recommended Content

Editors’ Picks

AUD/USD approaches 0.6900 ahead of Australian inflation

AUD/USD approaches 0.6900 ahead of Australian inflation

The Aussie is among the best performers against the Greenback this week, trading at fresh 2024 highs, not far from the 0.6900 mark. Australian inflation data taking centre stage in the Asian session.

AUD/USD News
EUR/USD extend recovery amid persistent USD weakness

EUR/USD extend recovery amid persistent USD weakness

The Euro benefited from the broad US Dollar’s weakness on Tuesday, trimming weekly losses and looking to retest the 1.1200 level. Additional gains out of the table amid discouraging European data.

EUR/USD News
Gold's unstoppable run extends beyond $2,650

Gold's unstoppable run extends beyond $2,650

Gold price keeps posting record highs on a daily basis, now comfortable above $2,650. Poor United States data fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will trim rates by another 50 bps when it meets in November.

Gold News
Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP consolidate as SUI continues impressive run

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP consolidate as SUI continues impressive run

Bitcoin traded around $63,600 on Tuesday, as prices appear to be consolidating within the $62,000 and $64,700 key levels. On-chain data shows that the consolidation may be due to profit-taking by holders and mild Bitcoin ETF net inflows of $4.5 million, per Farside Investors data.

Read more
RBA widely expected to keep key interest rate unchanged amid persisting price pressures

RBA widely expected to keep key interest rate unchanged amid persisting price pressures

The Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to continue bucking the trend adopted by major central banks of the dovish policy pivot, opting to maintain the policy for the seventh consecutive meeting on Tuesday.

Read more
Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know

Moneta Markets review 2024: All you need to know

VERIFIED In this review, the FXStreet team provides an independent and thorough analysis based on direct testing and real experiences with Moneta Markets – an excellent broker for novice to intermediate forex traders who want to broaden their knowledge base.

Read More

Majors

Cryptocurrencies

Signatures