Forex Today: Markets overlook escalating tensions in Middle East
Here is what you need to know on Thursday, July 9:
The US Dollar (USD) struggles to find demand early Thursday despite a further escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The US economic calendar will feature weekly Initial Jobless Claims and Existing Home Sales data for June. Investors will also keep a close eye on comments from central bank officials.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the weakest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.14% | -0.20% | -0.15% | 0.06% | -0.09% | -0.54% | -0.22% | |
| EUR | 0.14% | -0.06% | 0.00% | 0.20% | 0.08% | -0.36% | -0.06% | |
| GBP | 0.20% | 0.06% | 0.07% | 0.26% | 0.14% | -0.30% | 0.00% | |
| JPY | 0.15% | 0.00% | -0.07% | 0.19% | 0.09% | -0.38% | -0.06% | |
| CAD | -0.06% | -0.20% | -0.26% | -0.19% | -0.12% | -0.57% | -0.26% | |
| AUD | 0.09% | -0.08% | -0.14% | -0.09% | 0.12% | -0.44% | -0.12% | |
| NZD | 0.54% | 0.36% | 0.30% | 0.38% | 0.57% | 0.44% | 0.30% | |
| CHF | 0.22% | 0.06% | -0.00% | 0.06% | 0.26% | 0.12% | -0.30% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
The United States (US) military said late Wednesday that it hit 90 targets along the coastline of Iran. In response, Iran's Revolutionary Guard targeted US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain. According to Reuters, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani spoke to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi urged sides to commit to diplomacy. Despite this new development, crude Oil prices edge lower in the European session on Thursday and the USD Index stays in negative territory below 101.00, while US stock index futures rise between 0.2% and 0.7%.
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) June policy meeting highlighted that policymakers generally saw upside risks to price stability as elevated while downside risks to maximum employment goal had moderated a bit. According to the document, most participants pointed to scenarios in which inflation would remain elevated due to AI-related demand, Middle East conflict or tariffs, and noted that some policy firming would likely be warranted.
After closing virtually unchanged on Wednesday, EUR/USD benefits from the renewed USD weakness and rises toward 1.1450 in the European morning on Thursday.
GBP/USD preserves its bullish momentum after closing in positive territory on Wednesday and trades at its highest level in three weeks above 1.3400.
Following a three-day slide, Gold gains traction on Thursday and rises nearly 0.8% on the day above $4,100.
USD/JPY corrects lower and trades below 162.50 after rising about 0.3% on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) latest quarterly report showed on Thursday that there's no change to the overall assessment for all 9 Japanese regions. Most regional economies are seen as "recovering moderately" still.
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
