The Eurodollar continued to decline this week to hit a five week low as US data took centre stage. Lower than expected US inflation data saw an initial fall in the Greenback’s value.
The British pound declined and recorded a one-month low after UK GDP figures were in line with expectations. Most other UK data last week was lower than expected, suggesting that the economy may be slowing down.
The USD/JPY increased to hit a six-week peak. On Thursday the Bank of Japan kept interest rates at 0.1% and stated it was moving away from its ultra-easy monetary policy
Gold prices traded higher as tensions rose in the Middle East after Israel was hit by a large scale rocket attack by Hezbollah. The Federal Reserve kept rates at 5.5% on Wednesday, but markets currently expect rates to be cut in September.
The price of the stock indexes rose with Nasdaq hitting repeated all-time highs. Apple’s stock price jumped as its developer's event concluded. Tesla’s shareholders voted to approve CEO Elon Musk’s remuneration package, worth $56 billion. Musk now owns around 23% of Tesla.
Oil prices climbed after OPEC’s monthly report stated that oil demand will remain strong this year. Goldman Sachs also predicted that there could be a potential increase in oil demand in the US this summer due to the travel season.