European session review: USD strengthens as U.S.-China tensions intensify

USD rose against its major rivals in the European session on Friday, as risk sentiment turned off after the U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban dealing with owners of China-based social media apps TikTok and WeChat, igniting a new round of tensions between Washington and Beijing. The ban will come into effect next month. In addition, the U.S. President’s Working Group on Financial Markets issued recommendations on protecting investors from "significant risks" from Chinese companies, listed in the U.S. In accordance with recommendations, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to request Chinese companies to grant access to materials used by principal audit firms of these companies. Companies that refuse to provide satisfactory materials could be subject to delisting. 

Investors are also awaiting the U.S. non-farm payrolls (due at 12:30 GMT), which are anticipated to show U.S. jobs creation slowed in July from the previous month, as a spike in coronavirus cases undermined the economic recovery. It is expected that the jobs data could certainly spur Republican and Democratic lawmakers to compromise on the next coronavirus rescue package.