American FX Outlook: Draghi’s ceremonial speech headlines the day of political uncertainty

Mario Blascak, PhD Independent Analyst

What you need to know before markets open

The world’s most important central bankers gather in Sintra, Portugal for the annual symposium organized by the ECB.
China said it will impose duties on the US oil imports worth almost $1 billion per month.
OPEC discusses output hike of up to 600,000 barrels a day with the decision set to be made on June 22.
The UK Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure to disclose how to boost the financing for National Health Service.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a crisis over migration policy that enters a critical phase this week.
With little-to-no macro news due on Monday, the sentiment and the central bankers' speeches are set to take over.

Monday's upcoming market moving events

ECB President Mario Draghi delivers the opening remarks by the at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal at 19:00 GMT.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is expected to deliver closing remarks on at a conference on banking culture, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at 21:00 GMT.

Major market themes

Major European currencies like EUR and GBP are trading little changed against the US Dollar as political uncertainties pushed greenback higher earlier on Monday.
Central bankers’ speeches are due later on Monday with both ECB’s Draghi and New York Fed’s Williams speeches being of rather ceremonial nature.
The central bankers' symposium organized by ECB in Sintra, Portugal begins.

Earlier in Asia/Europe

Rightmove house price index rose 1.1% y/y in May.
Japan’s trade balance reached a deficit of ¥-296.8 billion in May.

Author

Mario Blascak, PhD

Independent Analyst

Dr. Mário Bla&scaron;čák worked in professional finance and banking for 15 years before moving to journalism. While working for Austrian and German banks, he specialized in covering markets and macroeconomics.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Breaking: US and Israel attack Iran, risk aversion to sweep global markets

Early Saturday, United States (US) President Donald Trump announced that the US had begun “major combat operations” in Iran, following Israel’s pre-emptive missile attacks against Tehran.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.