USD

The US dollar was off to a strong start this week, thanks to risk aversion stemming from the weekend events. 

Greece was unable to come up with an agreement with its creditors during their weekend meetings while China announced another round of stimulus efforts. US pending home sales are up for release today but it looks like risk sentiment might continue to push dollar pairs around.

EUR

The euro gapped lower against all its forex counterparts when the ECB refrained from increasing its emergency fund to Greece and allowed capital controls to be put in place. The IMF deadline is still set for tomorrow and the inability of Greece to make this payment might lead to more weakness for the shared currency and talks of a Grexit. As for economic data, German and Spanish preliminary CPI readings are due today.

GBP

The pound was weighed down by the pessimistic sentiment in the European markets, also leading to gaps across the charts. Data from the UK includes the net lending to individuals and mortgage approvals figures, with strong improvements possibly giving the pound a boost.

CHF

The franc was also on weak footing following the weekend events in the EU, although traders seem careful to buy up the currency due to the SNB’s rhetoric. There are no reports lined up from Switzerland today, which means that franc traders could pay close attention to developments in the Greek debt talks.

JPY

The yen encountered a round of volatility at the start of this trading week when sources from the BOJ claimed that the central bank might also push up short-term liquidity in the event of a market crash from the Greek debt crisis. This lead to a quick selloff for the yen, which happened to gap up against its forex counterparts over the weekend as well.

Commodity Currencies (AUD, NZD, CAD)

Comdolls reacted to the Chinese central bank’s interest rate cut, leading to a bit of gains for the Aussie and Kiwi. The PBOC decided to lower benchmark and deposit rates, as well as their RRR, in order to limit the losses on the Chinese stock market. The increase in liquidity could mean higher business activity, which might wind up supporting trade activity in Australia and New Zealand.

By Kate Curtis from Trader’s Way