IFX Market Report: Tuesday 7th July 2020

Another quiet day for the pound on Monday, as markets await further Brexit news. Sterling traded in a narrow range versus its major counterparts, briefly breaking the 1.25 level versus the dollar.

The pound was unmoved by a business survey that showed British construction companies returned to growth in June for the first time since lockdown began.

Sterling will likely remain relatively flat today, as markets await the Chancellor’s announcement in parliament tomorrow of a fresh range of UK support measures.

No economic releases are due today.

GBPUSD opened at 1.2488 and closed at 1.2489

GBPEUR opened at 1.1063 and closed at 1.1043

In the US, data yesterday showed that service industry activity rebounded to almost pre-pandemic levels last month, with the headline figure of 57.1 well ahead of expectations of around 50.2. Rather than lift the greenback, this has the effect of bolstering risk appetite and the dollar therefore lost marginal ground.

Meanwhile, Florida’s greater Miami area became the latest area to roll back its reopening, ordering all restaurant dining closed on Monday as virus cases surged nationwide.

There is no Stateside data due out today.

Better than forecast retail sales figures for the eurozone yesterday had little impact on the single currency, making slight gains versus the pound and a softer US dollar.

There is little this week that is likely to impact the euro.

EURUSD opened at 1.1288 and closed at 1.1311

In other news, the RBA kept Australia’s interest rate unchanged overnight at 0.25%.