THE TAKEAWAY: Both the ECB and BoE maintain their respective monetary policy stances > US ISM Manufacturing comes in much stronger than expected

Today featured rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Both central banks decided to maintain their monetary policy outlook. ECB President Mario Draghi held a press conference following the rate decision and seemed to highlight the tepid credit conditions in the Eurozone. Draghi also stated that the decision to implement forward guidance was unanimous. Turning to the UK, the Bank of England will publish a special report about forward guidance on August 7, the same day as the Inflation Report.

In North America, the US had several good data prints. The first was a low Initial Jobless Claims figure: +326K actual; +345K Bloomberg News survey expected. Next the ISM Manufacturing print came in higher than anticipated: 55.4 actual; 52.0 Bloomberg News survey expected.

Bond markets reacted particularly strongly to the economic news today. 10YR US treasury yields are up +11.1bps (+4.30%) to 2.687% at the time of writing.

The Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index (Ticker: USDOLLAR) gains +73 (+0.67%) to $10875 at the time of writing.

AUDUSD 15-minute Chart: August 1, 2013
Charts Created using Marketscope – prepared by Kevin Jin

The AUDUSD is modestly lower by -0.66% today at the time of writing. The pair was never able to retouch the $0.9000 level. There was heavy selling at New York Open after positive US data.

GBPUSD 15-minute Chart: August 1, 2013
Charts Created using Marketscope – prepared by Kevin Jin

The GBPUSD is net lower by -0.45% at the time of writing. The cable strongly rallied at 11:00 GMT (7:00 EDT on chart above) when monetary policy was kept unchanged.

EURUSD 15-minute Chart: August 1, 2013
Charts Created using Marketscope – prepared by Kevin Jin

The EURUSD is lower by -0.62% at the time of writing. The pair slowly dragged lower throughout the trading day, aside from a modest bounce during ECB President Draghi’s press conference.

USDJPY 15-minute Chart: August 1, 2013
Charts Created using Marketscope – prepared by Kevin Jin

The USDJPY is one of the strongest performing majors today, gaining +1.35% at the time of writing. There were few bumps in the trajectory today, compared to the previously mentioned majors which displayed more whipsaw features. The USDJPY made its way above ¥99.00 at about 14:00 GMT (10:00 EDT on chart above), towards London Close.

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Source: Daily fx