Forex news for February 18, 2015 US edition:
- FOMC Minutes: Many officials felt dropping 'patient' may lead to date focus
- FOMC Minutes say many officials inclined to stay at zero longer
- January 2015 US PPI final demand -0.8% vs -0.4% exp m/m
- January 2015 US housing starts 1.065m vs 1.070m exp
- US January industrial production +0.2% vs +0.3% expected
- ECB approves continuing emergency liquidity for Greek banks
- Greece asked for 5B hike in ELA, was given 3.3B
- Greek bailout extension request largely recaps requests already made
- Greece will run out of cash in late March - RTRS source
- Schaeuble: We have overcome the euro crisis
- BOE's McCafferty very much doubts rates will rise before the election
- India's central banks clarifies gold import rules
- Russia begins to convert forex from reserves into roubles
- Oil down $2.71 to $50.84
- S&P 500 down 1 point to 2099
- Gold up $2 to $1211
- GBP leads, CHF lags
Anticipation about the FOMC Minutes kept markets in check ahead of the release but when the main event arrived, it delivered. The US dollar fell about a half-cent right across the board. It rebounded against the loonie but eventually made fresh lows against the yen.
I'd argue that the FOMC Minutes represent the period before non-farm payrolls better than the current outlook but they were certainly more dovish than expected. Will it change what Yellen says on Tuesday at Humphrey Hawkins? I doubt it.
Earlier in the day, the US dollar was mixed. The data was soft but the BOJ brushed aside worries about a weak yen and the market is jittery about Greece. The main headline on that front was the ELA. EUR/USD jumped 10 pips at first and then fell 20 pips as the market realized the ECB was playing hardball. Overall, Greek headlines weren't a huge factor as the market settles ahead of a final verdict.
Cable was a winner. The UK is starting to look like clearly the 2nd best major economy. That isn't saying much but it's enough for a solid rally as most the decline from early in the year is washed out. Decent data and the MPC Minutes were the drivers.
The loonie took a late hit on a huge build in the API inventory data but the market was quick to buy a dip to 1.2388 in any case. Last at 1.2436.
