America’s Roundup: Dollar slips amid rate cut talk, Wall Street ends mixed, Gold extends record rally , Oil prices rise 2% on significant US storage withdrawal

Market Roundup

•US Jun Housing Starts  1.353M, 1.300M forecast,1.277M previous

•US Jun Building Permits 1.446M, 1.400M forecast,1.399M previous

•US Jun Building Permits (MoM) 3.4%,-2.8% previous

•US Jun Housing Starts (MoM)  3.0%,-5.5% previous

•Canada May Foreign Securities Purchases by Canadians  3.860B, 0.020B previous

•Canada May Foreign Securities Purchases 20.89B,  41.16B previous

•US Jun Industrial Production (YoY) 1.58%,0.13% previous

•US Crude Oil Inventories -4.870M, -0.900M forecast,-3.443M previous

Looking Ahead Economic Data(GMT)

• 23:50  Japan JunTrade Balance  -240.0B forecast,-1,220.1B previous

• 23:50  Japan Exports (YoY)  6.4% forecast, 13.5% previous

• 23:50  Japan Adjusted Trade Balance -0.82T forecast, -0.62T previous

• 01:30  Australia Jun Employment Change 19.9K forecast, 39.7K previous

• 01:30  Australia Jun Unemployment Rate  4.1% forecast, 4.0% previous

• 01:30  Australia Jun Full Employment Change  41.7K previous

• 01:30  Australia Jun Participation Rate  66.8% forecast, 66.8% previous

Looking Ahead Events  and Other Releases(GMT)

•No events Ahead

Currency Summaries

EUR/USD: The euro steadied on Wednesday as euro attracted bids ahead of the European Central Bank's rate-setting meeting later in the week. The European Central Bank will hold its policy meeting later this week, where it is widely expected to hold interest rates. On the data front,Eurozone inflation slowed as initially estimated in June but the European Central Bank is expected to hold its benchmark rate on Thursday as underlying inflation remains too high.The harmonized index of consumer prices rose 2.5 percent on a yearly basis, which was slower than the 2.6 percent growth posted in May. The 2.5 percent matched the flash estimate published on July 2.The euro peaked at a four-month high of $1.0943. Immediate resistance can be seen at 1.0942(23.6%fib).), an upside break can trigger rise towards 1.1000 (Psychological level).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 1.0893(Daily low), a break below could take the pair towards 1.0868(38.2%fib).

GBP/USD: The pound hit its highest around one year against the dollar on Wednesday after stronger than expected UK services inflation data for June led markets to reduce expectations for an August rate cut.British inflation held at 2.0% year on year last month, official data showed, above the 1.9% expected by analysts polled by Reuters, and closely-watched services inflation was at 5.7% year on year, compared to the expected 5.6%.Strong increases in hotel prices were partly to blame for the higher than expected reading, underscoring the Bank of England's concerns about price pressures in the services sector. After the data rate futures showed investors saw a roughly one in three chance of a BoE rate cut on Aug. 1, the date of its next scheduled monetary policy announcement, down from almost 50-50 before the inflation data. Immediate resistance can be seen at 1.3048(23.6%fib), an upside break can trigger rise towards 1.3081(Higher BB).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 1.2971(Daily low), a break below could take the pair towards 1.2937(38.2%fib).

USD/CAD: The Canadian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday as risk appetite faded and after Canadian inflation data the previous day raised prospects of the Bank of Canada cutting interest rates further next week.Money markets are pricing in a near 90% chance the BoC will cut rates for a second straight meeting at a policy announcement on July 24 after data on Tuesday showed Canada's annual inflation rate cooling to 2.7% in June from 2.9% in May. Canadian retail sales data for May, due on Friday, could offer further clues on prospects for additional easing. Economists expect a monthly decline of 0.6%.The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was up 2.5% at $82.79 a barrel but some other commodities, such as copper, headed lower .Immediate resistance can be seen at 1.3368 (14DMA), an upside break can trigger rise towards 1.3455 (38.2% fib).On the downside, immediate support is seen at 1.3324(23.6% fib), a break below could take the pair towards 1.3231 (Nov 16th low).

USD/JPY: The dollar declined sharply against Japanese on Wednesday as traders suspected was likely the result of yet another intervention from Japanese authorities to prop up the battered currency from multi-decade lows.The dollar was last 1.2% lower against the yen at 156.48 , extending its sudden fall against the Japanese currency shortly after the London trading session began.The dollar's decline against the yen happened at a more measured pace than in previous bouts of intervention, which led traders to initially attribute the move to the unwinding of carry trades.However, the scale of the fall left markets alert to the possibility of another yen-buying intervention from Tokyo, after authorities had likely done so last week. Strong resistance can be seen at 157.43(38.2%fib), an upside break can trigger rise towards 158.66(50%fib). On the downside, immediate support is seen at 155.94 (23.6%fib), a break below could take the pair towards 155.00 (Psychological level).

Equities Recap

European shares fell for the third straight day on Wednesday, driven by a drop in chip stocks amid concerns over U.S.-China trade tensions, with focus now on the ECB's upcoming rate decision.

UK's benchmark FTSE 100 closed up by 0.28 percent, Germany's Dax ended down by 0.44 percent, France’s CAC finished the day down by 0. 12 percent.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Wednesday as the prospect of tighter U.S. trade curbs on companies giving China access to advanced semiconductor technology weighed down on major chip and tech stocks..

Dow Jones closed up by 0.59 percent, S&P 500 ended down by 1.39 percent, Nasdaq finished the day down by 2.76 percent.

Commodities Recap

Gold prices reached an all-time high on Wednesday, driven by growing optimism for a U.S. Federal Reserve interest-rate cut in September and a weaker dollar boosting demand.

Spot gold dropped about 0.6% to $2,454.98 per ounce by 1748 GMT due to profit-taking after hitting an all-time high of $2,482.29 earlier in the session.

Oil prices climbed about 2% on Wednesday, driven by a larger-than-expected weekly drop in U.S. crude stockpiles and a weaker U.S. dollar, despite signs of slower economic growth in China.

Brent futures rose $1.35, or 1.6%, to $85.08 a barrel by 1:33 p.m. EDT (1733 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.09, or 2.6%, to settle at $82.85.