Markets remain range bound ahead of Federal Reserve minutes later in the week.

Exchange rates across the board remained fairly muted over the weekend with little movement in early Asian trading. US retail sales from Friday were worse than expected, however the market continues to adopt a looking forward rather than back attitude regarding such releases.

In the US, a delay in a scheduled review of the US-China trade deal was considered a positive as it means the deal is still intact; for now. Elsewhere, the US Postal Service announced that it may struggle to deliver ballot papers for the upcoming election in as many as 46 states. An interesting development given Trump’s recent comments about trying to postpone or delay the November vote. Critics will argue this latest news is being assisted by the Trump team to ensure elderly voters who will more likely support Biden but are unable to vote in person due to virus risks, can no longer do so.

The perceived poor handling of the coronavirus by the US over the summer has certainly benefited the euro. EURUSD has risen above 1.19, the highest level in over two years with European governments seemingly having a far better handle of the virus. However, news over the weekend does suggest a second wave is coming with a further 1,440 cases in the UK on Friday and over 3,000 in France over the weekend. Whilst the severity of a second wave in Europe is yet to be determined, cases are most definitely on the rise.

Data releases today are all relatively low tier and unlikely to impact market movements. Attention will turn towards Wednesday and beyond when the Federal Reserve issue the minutes of the latest interest rate decision.

Economic Calendar