Forex news for North American trading on January 23, 2019:
- Canada November retail sales -0.9% vs -0.6% expected
- BOC's Poloz: Oil price drop will knock about 0.4 pp from GDP
- Trump recognizes Guaido as interim President of Venezuela - statement
- US Richmond Fed manufacturing index for January -2 versus -2 expected
- Eurozone January advance consumer confidence -7.9 vs -6.5 expected
- Maduro accuses US of coup d'etat, boots diplomatic staff
- More Trump: US is doing well in trade negotiations with China
- Pelosi blocks Trump's State of the Union amid shutdown
- Michael Cohen to postpone House testimony after threats from Trump - report
- Hassett says confident China and US can reach agreement by March 1 deadline
- Italy's Conte says economic growth could be as high as 1.5% this year
- US November FHFA house price index +0.4% vs +0.3% expected
Markets:
- Gold down $2 to $1283
- WTI crude down 41-cents to $52.59
- S&P 500 up 6 points to 2638
- US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 2.75%
- GBP leads, JPY lags
GBP was an island of strength throughout the day but the move came almost entirely before New York arrived and it chopped sideways near 1.3070 for the final few hours of trading. Meanwhile, the rest of the market went for a ride. The early theme of US dollar strength reversed after USD/JPY hit 110.00 in a quick slide to 109.40.
It was similar elsewhere as the dollar hit the best levels of the day early only to skid. That helped the euro to 1.1394 at the highs before it sagged a dozen pips lower late.
USD/CAD jumped after the soft Canadian retail sales report to hit a two week high of 1.3370. From there it was a tug-of-war with the US dollar falling but oil falling along with it. News of the trouble in Venezuela hasn't helped crude, at least so far.
AUD/USD is finishing near the highs of the day at 0.7142. It's been up higher a few times in the past day but hasn't been able to break through. NZD/USD has also been unable to break above
