COT Update: IMM currency futures

Euro getting crushed here, could be more to come.

Forex 4 minutes to read
Picture of John Hardy
John J. Hardy

Global Head of Macro Strategy

Summary:  The downdraft in the euro and European stocks suggest that global investors are second guessing their heavy reallocations into Europe after the EU caved to the Trump agenda in striking the trade deal at the weekend. The euro risks further broad weakness.


Euro getting crushed as the air comes out of the geopolitical narrative from earlier this year.
The euro sell-off yesterday turned into an out-and-out rout, as EURUSD was crushed back toward the lows of the range all in one go and EURJPY viciously rejected the latest rally extension as discussed in the chart below. Again, the sudden weakness is due to the EU cowing quickly to the Trump administration terms, a move that is angering national political leadership in France and Germany and elsewhere. This will have very interesting longer-term implications for politics on the national and EU level across Europe and nothing in the Trump era is permanent. For now, the ugly sell-off in European stocks yesterday combined with the euro downdraft speaks loudest. For the short-term this looks like a wakeup call as investors overbought the narrative that Europe would more boldly move ahead with a more domestic-oriented agenda to move away from the reliance on the US for security and economic growth through exports. The EURUSD area of note is 1.1500-1.1450 more than the range low of 1.1557 which has already been tested this morning, with the area toward 1.1200 (the prior approximate range high) at risk of opening up if the downside momentum stays intense here.

Chart: EURJPY
The extension higher in EURJPY on Friday was the last gasp for now for this EURJPY rally, as the rally was very smartly rejected yesterday on broad euro weakness, with further follow-through overnight. There is enormous room for a deep consolidation here without fully erasing the prior rally move, with a move below perhaps 165.00 needed to suggest that we are in a very long-term topping process and have been since 2024, which remains my technical base case despite this intense recent rally from below 162.00.

29_07_2025_EURJPY
Source: Saxo

Today we get the useless US June JOLTS survey (very low response rate, heavy revisions) and the Conference Board US Consumer Confidence survey, which is a bit more interesting for the national mood. The important Expectations component of that survey settled in June near the lows of the range since 2013 after a one-off wipeout in April around Trump’s Liberation Day announcements that reversed in May. The Present Situation component of the confidence survey is in a local downtrend but still relatively elevated in the historic range. The market may be jolted on the JOLTS survey as it was last month on the sudden strength after a string of weaker numbers, but it is a mere distraction ahead of the July US ADP payrolls number tomorrow (which in turn was very misleading last month relative to the strong-ish Nonfarm Payrolls change and 0.2% drop in the Unemployment Rate). The NFP change number has been beyond misleading and yet market participants (and algorithms?) continue to react strongly to it… The most recent QECW (an exhaustive survey that comes out with a significant delay relative to the monthly BLS employment data) showed that 2024 payrolls saw the largest overestimation in 15 years

And I’m not alone in fretting about the quality of US data. A recent Reuters article discusses the poor quality of US economic data, in part due to Trump administration disruptions to the data-collecting bureaucracy.

Note as well that we have the June and Q2 CPI figures up from Australia tonight, a key input ahead of the August 12 RBA meeting (more than 90% priced for a 25-bp cut). As I discussed in my Friday week-ahead piece, I see the Bank of Japan as far more likely to deliver a surprise than the FOMC.

FX Board of G10 and CNH trend evolution and strength.
Note: If unfamiliar with the FX board, please see a video tutorial for understanding and using the FX Board.

With the hard reversal, the trend readings for the Euro are reversing about as hard as I have ever seen on the FX Board (-3.2 on the two-day momentum and the day is young….). The US dollar and Japanese yen look somewhat like fellow travelers here, just as they were against the euro when the latter was strong.

29_07_2025_FXBoard_Main
Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group

Table: NEW FX Board Trend Scoreboard for individual pairs.
The weak USD trends are falling like flies, with USDCAD set to flip positive today if the rally holds, and EURUSD will likely flip negative tomorrow on hold below the range lows. Note EURAUD set to flip to negative today as well if the price action holds.

29_07_2025_FXBoard_Individuals
Source: Bloomberg and Saxo Group
This content is marketing material and should not be regarded as investment advice. Trading financial instruments carries risks and historic performance is not a guarantee of future results.
The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options..

Quarterly Outlook

01 /

  • Q3 Investor Outlook: Beyond American shores – why diversification is your strongest ally

    Quarterly Outlook

    Q3 Investor Outlook: Beyond American shores – why diversification is your strongest ally

    Jacob Falkencrone

    Global Head of Investment Strategy

  • Q3 Macro Outlook: Less chaos, and hopefully a bit more clarity

    Quarterly Outlook

    Q3 Macro Outlook: Less chaos, and hopefully a bit more clarity

    John J. Hardy

    Global Head of Macro Strategy

    After the chaos of Q2, the quarter ahead should get a bit more clarity on how Trump 2.0 is impacting...
  • Upending the global order at blinding speed

    Quarterly Outlook

    Upending the global order at blinding speed

    John J. Hardy

    Global Head of Macro Strategy

    We are witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime shredding of the global order. As the new order takes shape, ...
  • Equity outlook: The high cost of global fragmentation for US portfolios

    Quarterly Outlook

    Equity outlook: The high cost of global fragmentation for US portfolios

    Charu Chanana

    Chief Investment Strategist

  • Asset allocation outlook: From Magnificent 7 to Magnificent 2,645—diversification matters, now more than ever

    Quarterly Outlook

    Asset allocation outlook: From Magnificent 7 to Magnificent 2,645—diversification matters, now more than ever

    Jacob Falkencrone

    Global Head of Investment Strategy

  • Commodity Outlook: Commodities rally despite global uncertainty

    Quarterly Outlook

    Commodity Outlook: Commodities rally despite global uncertainty

    Ole Hansen

    Head of Commodity Strategy

  • Macro outlook: Trump 2.0: Can the US have its cake and eat it, too?

    Quarterly Outlook

    Macro outlook: Trump 2.0: Can the US have its cake and eat it, too?

    John J. Hardy

    Global Head of Macro Strategy

  • Equity Outlook: The ride just got rougher

    Quarterly Outlook

    Equity Outlook: The ride just got rougher

    Charu Chanana

    Chief Investment Strategist

  • China Outlook: The choice between retaliation or de-escalation

    Quarterly Outlook

    China Outlook: The choice between retaliation or de-escalation

    Charu Chanana

    Chief Investment Strategist

  • Commodity Outlook: A bumpy road ahead calls for diversification

    Quarterly Outlook

    Commodity Outlook: A bumpy road ahead calls for diversification

    Ole Hansen

    Head of Commodity Strategy

The information on or via the website is provided to you by Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. (“Saxo Bank”) for educational and information purposes only. The information should not be construed as an offer or recommendation to enter into any transaction or any particular service, nor should the contents be construed as advice of any other kind, for example of a tax or legal nature.

All trading carries risk. Loses can exceed deposits on margin products. You should consider whether you understand how our products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Saxo Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided and shall not be responsible for any errors or omissions or for any losses or damages resulting from the use of such information.

The content of this website represents marketing material and is not the result of financial analysis or research. It has therefore not been prepared in accordance with directives designed to promote the independence of financial/investment research and is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of financial/investment research.

Saxo Bank (Schweiz) AG
The Circle 38
CH-8058
Zürich-Flughafen
Switzerland

Contact Saxo

Select region

Switzerland
Switzerland

All trading carries risk. Losses can exceed deposits on margin products. You should consider whether you understand how our products work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. To help you understand the risks involved we have put together a general Risk Warning series of Key Information Documents (KIDs) highlighting the risks and rewards related to each product. The KIDs can be accessed within the trading platform. Please note that the full prospectus can be obtained free of charge from Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or the issuer.

This website can be accessed worldwide however the information on the website is related to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. All clients will directly engage with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and all client agreements will be entered into with Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. and thus governed by Swiss Law. 

The content of this website represents marketing material and has not been notified or submitted to any supervisory authority.

If you contact Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. or visit this website, you acknowledge and agree that any data that you transmit to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., either through this website, by telephone or by any other means of communication (e.g. e-mail), may be collected or recorded and transferred to other Saxo Bank Group companies or third parties in Switzerland or abroad and may be stored or otherwise processed by them or Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. You release Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. from its obligations under Swiss banking and securities dealer secrecies and, to the extent permitted by law, data protection laws as well as other laws and obligations to protect privacy. Saxo Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. has implemented appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect data from unauthorized processing and disclosure and applies appropriate safeguards to guarantee adequate protection of such data.

Apple, iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.