Morning Market Review

EUR/USD

EUR is trading near zero against USD during today's Asian session, hovering at 1.1850. The day before, EUR managed to demonstrate moderate growth against USD and even updated local highs since September 10, but the "bulls" failed to consolidated at new levels (at 1.1900). The instrument was supported moderately by the data from Germany, released on Tuesday. ZEW Economic Sentiment in September rose from 71.5 to 77.4 points, which turned out to be better than the negative forecasts, which assumed a decrease in the indicator to 69.8 points. In the euro area, ZEW Survey showed a moderate increase in Economic Sentiment in September from 64 to 73.9 points, which also exceeded the projected 62.8 points. Today, investors are focused on the publication of the final minutes of the two-day Fed meeting on the interest rate. In addition, traders are awaiting the release of the August statistics on the dynamics of retail sales in the United States.

GBP/USD

GBP is marginally strengthening against USD during today's Asian trading session, building on the corrective momentum that formed earlier this week. The instrument is steadily retreating from its two-month lows, although the positions of GBP are still under pressure from the ambiguous prospects around the Brexit trade deal. The macroeconomic statistics from the UK published on Tuesday was contradictory. Claimant Count Change in August rose again by 73.7K after increasing by 69.9K in the previous period, which turned out to be much better than market expectations, which assumed a sharp increase in the figure by 100K. At the same time, the Unemployment Rate from ILO in July, as expected, increased from 3.9% to 4.1%. Claimant Count Rate in August increased from 7.4% to 7.6%.

AUD/USD

AUD is developing upward dynamics against USD and is growing again this morning session. The day before, the pair showed one of the strongest gains in recent years; however, it failed to consolidate at new levels, and by the end of the afternoon session the instrument had lost most of the positions it had won. AUD was strongly supported by the data from China. Industrial Production rose sharply in August by 5.6% YoY after increasing by 4.8% YoY in the previous month. Analysts were expecting strong data, but hoped for +5.1% YoY. Retail Sales for the same period increased by 0.5% YoY after rising by 1.1% YoY a month earlier. Additional support to AUD was provided by the neutral minutes of the RBA meeting, published on Tuesday. As expected, the regulator did not change the parameters of monetary policy, and the question of lowering the rate in the near future was not raised.

USD/JPY

USD declines against JPY during today's Asian trading session, developing an ultra-short term downtrend that formed earlier this week. The pair is losing about 0.1% and testing the level of 105.25, the lowest since August 28, for a breakdown. The positions of USD remain vulnerable before today's publication of the final minutes of the Fed meeting, while JPY is receiving timid support from macroeconomic publications from Japan. Today's data showed improved Exports in Japan. In August, export volumes fell by 14.8% YoY, recovering slightly from the previous decline of 19.2% YoY. Imports for the same period fell by 20.8% YoY after a decline of 22.3% YoY last month. Improved export dynamics led to an increase in Japan's Trade Balance in August from JPY 10.9B to JPY 248.3B.

XAU/USD

Gold prices are slightly strengthening during today's Asian session, offsetting the weak decline the day before and trying to recover to two-week local highs. The negative dynamics for the instrument on Tuesday was facilitated by the uncertain growth of USD, caused by a number of technical factors. In turn, expectations of new easing of monetary policy by the Fed kept the pair from a stronger correction. Support was also provided by weak data from the US. Industrial Production in the US in August grew by only 0.4% MoM after a sharp increase of 3.5% MoM in the previous month. Analysts had expected growth of 1% MoM.