TALKING POINTS – YEN, US DOLLAR, CHINA, AUSSIE DOLLAR, STOCKS, TURKEY

  • Yen, Franc and US Dollar drop amid broad sentiment recovery
  • Hopes for US, China trade war de-escalation stoking optimism
  • Aussie and New Zealand Dollars, Euro emerge as outperformers
  • The markets’ mood brightened in Asia Pacific trade as traders battered by turmoil in emerging market assets were offered a sliver of hope for de-escalation in the trade war between the US and China. That came by way of news that the latter country’s Vice Commerce Minister will travel to Washington to meet a high-level delegation for talks in late August.

    Price action was the picture of risk-on recovery. Currencies that rose on the back of deteriorating sentiment – the Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc and the US Dollar – turned lower in tandem. Meanwhile, standby pro-risk alternatives like the Australian and New Zealand Dollars outperformed. Even the Euro, which has been severely pressured by worries about Turkish crisis contagion, managed to find a lifeline.

    Looking ahead, a modest offering of second-tier European and US economic data releases seems unlikely to push sentiment trends out of the spotlight. FTSE 100 and S&P 500 futures are pointing firmly higher before the opening bells in London and New York, hinting the upbeat tone has scope for follow-through in the hours ahead. Needless to say however, elevated headline sensitivity threatens the durability of any such move.

    ASIA PACIFIC TRADING SESSION

    Yen and Dollar Fall on US, China Trade War Breakthrough Prospects

    EUROPEAN TRADING SESSION

    Yen and Dollar Fall on US, China Trade War Breakthrough Prospects

    ** All times listed in GMT. See the full economic calendar here.