Euro continues to firm
The EURUSD currency pair continues to strengthen for the second day in a row. The completion of military exercises in Russia and Belarus, the ratcheting down of geopolitical tensions, a statement by ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau that there is no longer a need for bond buying under the main asset purchase program (APP), and that the ECB may end APP buying in Q3, lent support to the European currency. Meanwhile, the release of GDP for Europe, where actual GDP growth of 4.6%YoY was in line with market expectations and was the same as in the previous reporting period, improvement in Eurozone economic sentiment to 48.6, which was better than the expected 38.4, also provided support.