Forex Today: Kiwi weakest in Asia, Swiss National Bank, Bank of England rate decisions eyed

Forex Today witnessed good two-way trading in Asia this Thursday, as a risk-on rally in the equities lifted the sentiment while weak fundamentals and US-China trade rhetoric kept the investors on the edge.

The USD/JPY pair dipped to 110.30 levels before staging a solid rebound to three-day tops near 110.70, as the US dollar ruled the roost. The Aussie’s rebound from 0.7350 region lost legs at the daily pivot of 0.7382, as markets await the approval of the Australian tax cuts, as proposed in this year’s budget. The Kiwi emerged the biggest loser and hit fresh 2018 lows at 0.6833 after New Zealand’s Q1 GDP annualized figures ticked lower.

Besides, the Euro and GBP traded with moderate losses along with the Swiss Franc, as markets look forward to the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and Bank of England (BOE) monetary policy announcements for the next direction.

On the commodities front, both crude benchmarks traded on the back foot ahead of the OPEC-JMMC Meetings while gold prices on Comex weakened further to hit six-month lows near $ 1266 levels on the back of higher Treasury yields.

Main topics in Asia

New Zealand GDP comes in at expectations, domestic household spending flat

New Zealand GDP came in at expectations, with the q/q figure printing at 0.5% (previous 0.6%), and the y/y/ figures coming in at 2.7% (previous 2.9%).

BoJ’s Funo: Uncertainty is high on other countries' trade policies, warrants attention

More comments flowing in from the BoJ board member Funo, via Reuters, as he continues to speak about the economy and trade barriers.

Irish PM Varadkar: Need much more Brexit progress from the UK

The Irish Prime Minister (PM) Leo Varadkar was on the wires earlier today, via Reuters, speaking about the Brexit issue ahead of his meeting with the European Union (EU) President Juncker.

China’s CommerceMin: China’s Vice Premier Liu to attend meeting with Europe delegation

China’s Commerce Ministry is out with a statement on Thursday, announcing that the country’s Vice Premier Liu will attend the upcoming meeting with Europe delegation in Beijing.

China’s CommerceMin: If US releases new tariffs list, China fully prepared to respond

Reuters reports further headlines from the Chinese Commerce Ministry, this time highlighting the US-Sino trade spat.

Key Focus ahead

Today’s macro calendar is centered on the SNB and BOE monetary policy decisions due later at 0730 GMT and 1100 GMT respectively. Both the central banks are expected to make no changes to its monetary policy settings and therefore, are likely to be a non-event. However, the minutes of the BOE monetary policy meeting will be closely eyed for any fresh hints on an August rate hike.

On the data front, there is nothing of note, except for the second-tier Swiss trade balance and the UK public sector net borrowings for May. Also, in focus will be the speech by the ECB Governing Council member Weidmann due at 0945 GMT.

In the NA session, the Canadian ADP jobs data will be watched alongside the US Philly Fed manufacturing index and jobless claims. Towards NY close, the BOE Governor Carney’s speech will be eyed for further insights into the central bank’s policy outcome, as he is scheduled to speak at the Mansion House dinner, in London.

EUR/USD headed back to 1.1535/30 amid notable USD demand

Having consolidated briefly around the 1.1575 region in early Asia, the EUR/USD pair came under fresh selling pressure, as the US dollar recovery regained traction amid better risk appetite.

GBP/USD struggling to lift away from 1.3150 ahead of BoE rate call for Thursday

Thursday's big event is the Bank of England's (BoE) rate call, due at 11:00 GMT, and the central bank is widely expected to remain on hold on rates. The BoE was knocked off their hawkish stance recently … 

Swiss National Bank to keep policy steady - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura are out with a brief preview of the Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) quarterly monetary policy assessment, with the interest rates decision due to be announced at 0730 GMT.

The Bank of England Preview: MPC to hold rates steady as the inflation outlook remains anchored

The Bank of England (BoE) nine members strong Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to hold the Bank rate at 0.50% and the volume of the asset purchasing unchanged this Thursday.