This article has been translated from English to Gen Z Slang.
Major assets were kinda all over the map on Thursday, peeps. 🤔 Traders were trying to vibe with Microsoft's and Meta’s lit earnings while stressing over those rising tariff drama and the end-of-the-month rollercoaster. 😅
U.S. data was coming in hot and spicy 🔥, and with those central bank deets, there were some serious zig-zags happening in stocks, FX, and commodities. Everyone’s on edge for Friday’s NFP drop. 👀
Peep these headlines you might’ve missed from the recent trading sessions!
Headlines:
- The U.S. dropped news of a trade hookup with South Korea, flaunting a 15% tariff along with $350B tossed into the U.S. piggy bank whenever Trump feels like it. 💸
- Japan’s factory scene in June was jumping: 1.7% m/m when everyone thought it’d drop; 4.0% y/y showed some glow-up too. 🤖
- Japanese retail therapy in June saw a 1% rise month over month, better than the zero forecast. Glowing up by 2.0% yearly too. 🛍️
- BOJ rolled with the same vibes, doing nada as expected in July. 🕶️
- BOJ's dude Ueda basically hinted, "Nah fam, no rate hike just yet," even though they’re forecasting some brighter vibes.
- Oz builders were out swinging with a boom of 11.9% m/m for June, way above the meh predictions. 🏗️
- House approvals down under, though -2% m/m was a bummer. 😬
- The Aussie shoppers went on a spree, showing 1.2% m/m for June—beating the low-key expectations. 🛒
- - China’s got that NBS manufacturing PMI sitting at 49.3 for July; not quite the hype of 49.9 forecasted, but whatever. 🏭
- - Swiss retail numbers were flexing at 3.8% y/y, leaving those sad forecasts in the dust. 🇨🇭
- The U.S. job scene saw some chops with 62.08k cuts in July. Yikes! 📉
- Germany’s inflation was up 2% y/y for July, staying steady with predictions. 🇩🇪
- Canada's GDP snuck up to 0.1% m/m, surprising no one. 🇨🇦
- U.S. employment costs checked in with a 0.9% nudge q/q in Q2 2025. 💼
- U.S. new jobs claims for July 26, 2025, slid in at 218k, pretty close to everyone’s guess. 🤔
- The big core PCE number pumped to 2.8% y/y for June, as expected—stability vibes. 🚀
- Trump flexed a chill vibe by extending that tariff pause for Mexico for 90 more days. 🇲🇽
Big Market Shake-Up 🍿:
Dollar Index, Gold, S&P 500, Oil, U.S. 10-yr Yield, Bitcoin Overlay Chart by TradingView
Markets were like a hot mess on Thursday. Traders were living for Big Tech's killer earnings but also sweating Trump’s tariff drama. 😅 Month-end vibes had everyone grabbing the popcorn.
In Europe, stocks were like, “Nope.” The Stoxx 600 was down 0.75%, Germany’s DAX, and France’s CAC 40 were out here tripping. The FTSE 100 was just trying to stay upright, barely hanging in. 😶🌫️
Over in the USA, Wall Street was on that early grind thanks to Microsoft and Meta—new highs for S&P 500 and Nasdaq. But then dudes started shuffling their stashes before Friday's big NFP, and the vibe dipped. The S&P cooled down 0.4%, Dow was like, "Hey, I'm off 0.7%,” and Nasdaq just vibe-checked flat. 💼🪦
Gold's getting some love-fueled by a weak dollar, touching $3,290 an ounce. Treasury yields were hiking back up to those nice mid-week highs of about 4.38% cuz of some surprise embers of good mid-tier data. But Oil took a spill over 1%, landing at $69.28 per barrel, 'cause energy drama is no mood in a high-tariff global mood. And, Bitcoin, poor thing, fell to like $115,600.
FX Market Mood: U.S. Dollar vs. The Squad:
Overlay of USD vs. Majors Chart by TradingView
The dollar was like “Nah, I'm good” at first on Thursday during those Asian hours, with peeps holding their breath for Trump’s tariffs. Trade deets set the scene, with Trump saying a deal with South Korea happened—15% tariff got some folks settling down. USD/JPY felt a bit wobbly too cuz BOJ was all sunny with their economic outlook. 🌞
But the Greenback got its act together during European hours after BOJ Governor Ueda was all "Nah, chill, we don’t gotta change anything yet," even with higher inflation vibes. That sent USD/JPY glowing up from around 148.65 to above 150.00, making the dollar's glow-up real. The month-end shuffle and pre-Friday’s job vibes were probably adding some spice to USD's energy. 🌶️
It got a little wild in the U.S. session. Mexico bagged a 90-day break on their tariff deal, and job nibbles from Challenger showed some gnarly job cuts hopping to 62,075 in July from the previous 47,999. Core PCE was at 0.3% for the month and 2.8% yearly, giving the dollar a leg-up. But, as folks started to cash out, the dollar was mixed. It went down against EUR and CHF but stayed strong against others. 📊
Upcoming Vibes on the Economy Calendar
- U.K. Nationwide Housing Prices for July at 6:00 am GMT 🏠
- Australia’s Commodity Vibes for July at 6:30 am GMT
- Swiss procure.ch Manufacturing PMI for July at 7:30 am GMT 🏭
- France's HCOB Manufacturing PMI Final for July at 7:50 am GMT 🇫🇷
- Germany's HCOB Manufacturing PMI Final for July at 7:55 am GMT 🇩🇪
- Eurozone's HCOB Manufacturing PMI Final for July at 8:00 am GMT 🌍
- U.K. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Final for July at 8:30 am GMT 🇬🇧
- Eurozone CPI Flash for July at 9:00 am GMT 📈
-
U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls for July at 12:30 pm GMT 💼
- U.S. Vibe Check: Participation Rate for July at 12:30 pm GMT 👥
- U.S. Clock-in: Average Weekly Hours for July at 12:30 pm GMT ⏰
- U.S. Unemployment Rate for July at 12:30 pm GMT 📉
- Canada S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for July at 1:30 pm GMT 🇨🇦
- U.S. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Final for July at 1:45 pm GMT 🇺🇸
- U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI for July at 2:00 pm GMT 📊
- U.S. Michigan Inflation Expectations Final for July at 2:00 pm GMT 📈
It’s gonna be a packed day with PMI data storming in from major spots just before Uncle Sam makes the job numbers drop.
Remember from Powell's chat, the Fed's main dude is keeping a close watch on the jobless rate to steer policy. Today's updates might get the U.S. dollar and other big players spicy, so don't miss these potential movers! 🚀
Stay fresh, stay alert, and peep our Forex Correlation Calculator for some extra savvy trading! 💪
