The US GDP was the first to release this week, the -1.6% contraction in the first quarter over the -1.5% forecast indicates a possible recession. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell acknowledges the risks of recession brought by aggressive rate hikes, but maintained controlling inflation would be his primary objective.
As a result, recession fears weakened major currencies against greenback, EUR/USD declined to 1.0439 and GBP/USD to 1.2125. As weathervanes for the European economy, Germany’s Retail Sales and Unemployment Change figures will be released tonight.
The UK and Canada also have their GDP readings about to be announced, investors anticipated a 0.8% growth for the UK in the first quarter, and Canada’s GDP in April to increase by 0.3%. Meanwhile, the USD/CAD pair closed at 1.2891 with modest gains, and AUD/USD reached 0.6881 with minor oscillations.
Other than a brief spike to 1,833, gold futures were less eventful to close at 1,817.5 an ounce. US Gasoline Inventories has mildly surprised the market by increasing its stockpile by over 2.6 million barrels, which eased the oil prices from 113.5 to 109.78 a barrel.