Here is what you need to know on Thursday, June 18
The EUR/USD pair has fallen to 1.1206, in a dull trading day. The focus remained on rising coronavirus cases in some US states. Texas reported hospitalizations rose by 11%, while the country reported over 16,400 new cases by Wall Street’s close.
Fed’s Chief Powell testified before Congress for a second consecutive day. Among other things, he said that the central bank stands ready to do more to aid the economic recovery if more needs to be done. He also added that “it will be a while before the Fed starts thinking about shrinking its balance sheet.”
UK PM Johnson repeated that his government is deeply concerned about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the local economy. He also said that when the Brexit transition period ends, the government will respond to the UK’s economic needs in a “creative way.” GBP/USD finished the day around 1.2550.
The USD/JPY pair eased ahead of Wall Street’s close and neared 107.00 as US indexes failed to sustain modest intraday gains. The DJIA and the S&P both closed in the red. The slump was linked to a book from former US Security Advisor John Bolton on Trump.
US Treasury yields also gave up ahead of the close, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note settling at 0.73%.
Spot gold trimmed intraday losses and closed the day little changed at around $1,728 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices ended the day little changed, with WTI just below $39.00 a barrel.
Cryptocurrency Market News: Bitcoin drops 2% after a weak day on the stock market
Australia will release during the upcoming Asian session its May employment data.