Market News

Though improving yields on US Treasuries are helping to support the US Dollar in the long term, in the short term the greenback remains under pressure as investors focus on the negotiations between Greece and its lenders.

Early this morning Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that it’s difficult to see the yen’s real effective rate falling further – and the currency instantly headed towards its biggest gain against the dollar this year.

Uncertainty as to whether the Dollar’s strength is likely to continue has forced the greenback into the defensive position, even in spite of last Friday’s upbeat jobs report.

U.S. bond yields may have risen last week, but bond traders are not pleased with the IMF’s posture to put off interest rate hikes till 2016.

After the US Labor Department reported last week that new private sector jobs hit 280,000 in the month of May, the US Dollar edged to a 13-year peak versus the Japanese Yen.

While most eyes will be focused on the G7 meeting taking place in the Balkans Monday, some investors are watching Asia's two largest economies, Japan and China, both of which are scheduled to release much data over the course of the coming week.

This could be a very quiet week for the Forex market, with little on the agenda. The headlines are likely to be dominated by the G7 meeting on Monday, and key data from New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.A. on Thursday.

The Seven (G7) Summit of industrial nations will meet on Sunday in the Bavarian Alps but the focus will almost certainly be on Greece’s debit crisis.

The International Monetary Fund released its report Thursday recommending that the U.S. Federal Reserve should push off a rate hike until the first half of 2016 when a strengthening in inflation and wages has stabilized.

Yutaka Harada, the newest board member on the Bank of Japan’s policy committee, said that the Yen has finally arrived at a “pretty good place” given the recent declines.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi sent euro governments into a tither Wednesday with his announcement that there would not be an earlier-than-expected end to its bond-buying plans.

Ahead of the European Central Bank’s decision, which will be keenly watched by investors and analysts alike, the Euro paused from its latest rally which took the common currency more than 2% higher versus the US Dollar.

At an emergency meeting Tuesday, Greece’s creditors outlined yet another agreement to help the leftist government in Athens put its country out of its dire financial situation.

This morning’s release of CPI figures from the Eurozone was an unexpected and welcome surprise for Euro bulls. According to Eurostat, May’s personal inflation or CPI reading, though preliminary, rose to 0.3% against expectations of a rise to 0.2% from 0.0% in April.

There were no surprises when Australia’s Central Bank Governor Glenn Stevens and his board left its key interest rate unchanged Tuesday at a record low of 2.0. Despite the decision, the Australian dollar continued to rise.