The European equity markets are declining in a first trading day this week mainly on the back of fairly lackluster readings of PMIs from European economies. On the other hand, the euro has stalled slightly at the beginning of trading after a splendid last week.

Asia markets traded mixed on Monday, with traders focused on the wobbling dollar and the upcoming two-day policy meeting from the Fed later in the week. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 pared some of its losses to close down 0.62 percent while the Topix index closed down 0.52 percent. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai composite bucked the downward trend to trade up 0.68 percent. The Shenzhen composite reversed early losses to tack on 0.47 percent in afternoon trade. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index traded up 0.34 percent.

Moving on to the European session there were sub-par PMIs’ prints across major economies which could have confounded traders when it comes to a further improvement in economic activity as growth in the euro-region economy started the third quarter at the weakest pace in six months as manufacturing cooled. A composite Purchasing Managers’ Index for EMU fell to 55.8 from 56.3 in June, IHS Markit said on Monday.

German stocks were lower on Monday as auto stocks slumped amid allegations of collusion. The Auto sector was under pressure after reports that the European Commission is investigating collusion between German automakers. Moreover, banking and retail stocks were slightly higher in early trade as investors expect further monetary policy tightening in the U.S. later this week and digest possible merger news.

The last week of July will bring some important macroeconomic events. Not only the FED, but also macro data should have a significant impact on the markets. Let us present the most notable events for this week.

At the end of the morning wrap let’s take a look at the two recommendations from UOB Bank for NZDUSD and USDJPY.