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A Quiet Economic Calendar Leaves Geopolitics and COVID-19 to Drive the Markets

In This Article:

Earlier in the Day:

It was a quiet start to the day on the economic calendar on Monday. While there were no material stats to provide direction, the PBoC was in action early on.

From elsewhere, an easing of new COVID-19 cases over the weekend was positive. The numbers remain higher than the previous weekend, however, so need monitoring.

Looking at the latest coronavirus numbers

On Sunday, the number of new coronavirus cases rose by 131,020 to 9,044,544. On Saturday, the number of new cases had risen by 155,790. The daily increase was lower than Saturday’s rise while up from 124,839 new cases from the previous Sunday.

Germany, Italy, and Spain reported 917 new cases on Sunday, which was down from 1,183 new cases on Saturday. On the previous Sunday, just 909 new cases had been reported.

From the U.S, the total number of cases rose by 26,079 to 2,356,657 on Sunday. On Saturday, the total number of cases had risen by 33,388. On Sunday, 14th June, a total of 19,920 new cases had been reported.

From China

The PBoC held the 5-year Loan Prime Rate (“LPR”) at 4.65% and the 1-year LPR at 3.85%. Economists had forecast cuts to 4.50% and 3.70% respectively.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.68407 to $0.68453 in response to the PBoC’s hold on rates. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.10% to $0.6842.

Elsewhere

At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.02% to ¥106.89 against the U.S Dollar, while the Kiwi Dollar was up by 0.12% to $0.6415.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR

It’s a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. There are no material stats due out of the Eurozone to provide the EUR with direction.

A lack of stats will leave the EUR in the hands of market risk sentiment on the day. News of easing tensions between the U.S and China and a fall in the daily number of new cases over the weekend are positives early on.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.09% to $1.1188.

For the Pound

It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. June’s CBI Industrial Trend Orders are due out later today.

With a quiet economic calendar on the day, we can expect some influence from the numbers. While the numbers will draw attention, we would expect chatter on Brexit to have the greatest impact on the day, however.

At the time of writing, the Pound was up by 0.13% to $1.2366.

Across the Pond

It’s also a quiet day ahead on the U.S economic calendar. Key stats include existing home sales figures for May.

We don’t expect any influence from the numbers. The housing sector has been on a rebound with mortgage rates sitting at record lows. Inventories are expected to begin to limit upward momentum, however.