The ECB’s monetary policy meeting was uneventful as the central bank left interest rates and QE unchanged. The ECB president Mario Draghi stuck to the comments from the June meeting. Although the ECB did not surprise the markets, the euro was seen posting strong losses on the day.
The common currency fell 0.73% against the U.S. dollar. Gold managed to post strong gains on the day rising 0.59% by Thursday’s close.
From the overnight trading session, data from Japan showed that Tokyo core CPI advanced 0.8% on the year beating estimates of a 0.7% increase.
In Australia, the producer prices were seen rising 0.3% on the quarter ending June 2018. This was below estimates of a 0.5% increase and marked a slower pace of increase compared to the first quarter’s print of 0.5%
Looking ahead, the economic calendar today will see the release of the German import prices and French consumer spending details. In the NY trading session, the U.S. department of commerce will be releasing the advance GDP report for the second quarter. Estimates show that the U.S. economy grew at a pace of 4.1% in the second quarter ending June 2018. This comes following a 2.2% increase in the first quarter.
