Summary:

  • GBP surges on retail sales report

  • Bitcoin crawls back above the $6500 handle

  • All eyes on the ECB (decision – 12:45 pm BST, conference – 1:30 pm BST)

Yesterday’s Fed decision caused Wall Street benchmarks to close lower. The bearish moods are visible in Europe today as well yet it may mean that investors are in “wait and see” mode ahead of the ECB meeting. The declines are observed across all the major European stock markets. British pound is outperforming its G10 peers on the back of an upbeat retail sales report. On the other hand Australian dollar is the biggest loser. Precious metal trade higher along with oil.

Earlier this month we wrote about Steve Wozniak, one of the Apple co-founders, who said that in his opinion there is no way Bitcoin will become global currency. Recently Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, also expressed that he does not believe that it will happen while provide some interesting arguments why.

UK retail sales surged in May beating expectations provided by economists surveyed by Bloomberg as the royal wedding together with warm weather encouraged Britons to go shopping. The pound soared immediately after the release being the best major currency in late morning trading.

European stock markets have begun the day on a softer foot feeling a rate increase in the US rolling through financial markets. However, having the Fed’s meeting already done, now focus turns to the European Central Bank meeting as it might be critical not just for the euro.

US indices ended Wednesday’s trading a bit lower following a rate increase delivered by the Federal Reserve. The press conference brought several hawkish points, but the overall outlook for the US dollar seems to be tricky as the yield curve is likely to continue flattening.

The ECB is the most important point for investors today as it may produce far-reaching consequences across many classes of assets. The bank is forecast to announce an end of its APP, but it’s been more or less already priced in, so the weight of risks may be moved to forward guidance.