Forex Today: Risk flows return at the start of the week

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Monday, June 6:

Safe-haven assets struggle to find demand at the beginning of the week amid some risk-positive developments. US stock index futures rise between 0.5% and 0.7% in the European morning and the US Dollar Index stays relatively quiet above 102.00. Trading conditions are likely to remain thin during the first half of the day due to the Whit Monday holiday in Europe. The US economic docket will not be offering any high-impact data releases either.

Chinese authorities announced over the weekend that Beijing will allow residents to return to work from Monday and schools will resume from June 13 onwards. Additionally, traffic bans in most areas of Beijing will be lifted as well. Moreover, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reaffirmed on Sunday that US President Joe Biden's administration is planning to ease tariffs on Chinese imports to battle inflation.

Meanwhile, the data published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed on Friday that Nonfarm Payrolls in the US rose by 390,000 in May, compared to the market expectation of 325,000.

US May Nonfarm Payrolls: Just what the Fed ordered.

On a negative note, the data from China showed that Caixin Services PMI improved modestly to 41.4 in May from 36.2 in April. This print came in much weaker than the market expectation of 47.3 and showed that the business activity in the service sector continued to contract at a strong pace.

EUR/USD closed the previous week virtually unchanged and continues to move sideways above 1.0700 in the early European session on Monday.

GBP/USD fluctuates in a tight range near 1.2500 in the European morning after having closed the previous week in negative territory. Several news outlets reported that a confidence vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to be announced on Monday.

USD/JPY rose more than 300 pips last week and stays relatively quiet above 130.50 on Monday. Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated on Monday that Japan is absolutely not in a situation that warrants policy tightening.

Gold erased a large portion of its weekly gains on Friday after the upbeat US May jobs report triggered a rally in US Treasury bond yields. The benchmark 10-year US T-bond yield, which rose more than 7% last week, stays quiet near 2.95% early Monday and XAU/USD fluctuates at around $1,850.

Gold Price Forecast: XAUUSD has room to recover before the next downswing kicks in.

Bitcoin has gained traction on Monday and climbed above $31,000 after spending the weekend in a narrow channel below $30,000. Ethereum is up nearly 4% in the European morning but continues to trade below the key $2,000 level.

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.

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