As the European session was coming to a close, the dollar edged higher against most major currencies. Falling yields on eurozone bonds as the bond sell-off eased, could have contributed to the euro pressure.
The dollar continued strengthening against most major currencies during the European session on the back of the better-than-expected jobs report on Friday. The dollar index, a broad measure of the greenback’s strength, was up 0.16% percent on the day. Dollar/yen was last trading at 114.22, while dollar/loonie was at 1.2884. The rest of the day looks to be quiet as no high-importance data releases are scheduled out of the US till tomorrow.
Today was a relatively quiet day for data releases out of the eurozone as well. The Sentix index of eurozone business and investor sentiment in July (28.3) narrowly beat the expected level of 28.2, but tempered from the decade-high level in June (28.4). The wave of eurozone bond sell-off eased today, causing the yields to fall. Germany’s 10-year bund yield is down two basis points at 0.55%, easing back from Friday’s 18-month high. Looking at the forex market, the eurozone currency weakened against the dollar during today’s European session, after holding steady in the prior session. Euro/dollar was last trading at 1.1388.
Pound/dollar reversed the gains recorded during the Asian trading hours and is looking to close lower at the end of the European session. The pair was last trading at 1.2865. Looking ahead, sterling traders could focus on the speeches by two Bank of England members, scheduled tomorrow.
Oil prices declined, extending losses at the end of last week on the back of high drilling activity in the US and ample supplies from OPEC and non-OPEC nations. The number of total active rigs exploring oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 12 last week to 952. A year ago, just 440 rigs were active. WTI was last trading at $44.02 a barrel, while Brent crude was at $46.54 a barrel.
Similarly to oil prices, gold has been under pressure as well. The precious metal was last trading at $1,209.24 as European markets were looking to close for the day.
