The US dollar is showing mixed performance as North American traders gear up for the final session of the first half of the year. Equities are closing the month on a strong note, with most major indices in the Asia-Pacific region, except India, posting gains. Europe's Stoxx 600 is attempting to break a three-day losing streak, currently up about 0.25%. US index futures are also trading higher. Gold is consolidating its recent recovery and is slightly firmer near $2330, up marginally for the week. August WTI crude is breaking out of its $80-$82 consolidation range, reaching almost $82.75 today, marking a new two-month high.

Asia-Pacific Markets
Economic data and the continued weakness of the yen suggest that the Bank of Japan is unlikely to raise rates or reduce its bond purchases to below maturing issues (i.e., quantitative tightening) by the end of the month. Yesterday in North America, the dollar mostly stayed within the ranges established during the Asia-Pacific session. The dollar rose slightly above JPY161.25 early today before stabilizing and returning to nearly unchanged levels in the European morning.
While the yen has been trending lower, the Australian dollar has remained stable, continuing to trade within the middle of the one-cent range ($0.6600-$0.6700).

European Markets
The ECB's latest survey of inflation expectations offered little new information. The one-year forecast stands at 2.8%, down from 2.9%, while the three-year projection has slipped from 2.4% to 2.3%.
The euro has been fluctuating between $1.0665 and $1.0760 for the past two weeks, and today it is trading within a narrow 10-15 tick range around $1.07.
Sterling has been confined to a range of about $1.2615-$1.2740 in the latter half of June. After falling for the past three weeks by a total of 0.75%, it was flat for the week going into today's session and is currently trading between $1.2625 and $1.2650.

American Markets
Despite the anticipated release of the inflation measure targeted by the Fed, the PCE deflator, significant market reactions are not expected. The signals have already been largely indicated by the earlier CPI and PPI releases, making surprises in the PCE deflator rare. Even if the month-over-month print is the lowest of the year, the likelihood of a rate cut at the FOMC meeting at the end of July remains minimal.