Forex news for North American trading on April 14, 2021:
- Fed's Powell: Repeats that the economy appears to be at an inflection point
- Fed's Beige Book highlights growing optimism and accelerating prices
- Fed's Williams: Vaccinations and stronger business activity may limit long-term economic damage
- US March import price index +1.2% m/m vs +0.9% expected
- US weekly crude oil inventories -5890K vs -2700K expected
- ECB's Lagarde: Spillover from US stimulus will mostly affect 2022
- Bernie Madoff dies in US prison
Markets:
- Gold down $9 to $1736
- US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 1.63%
- WTI crude oil up $2.69 to $62.87
- S&P 500 down 16 points to 4125
- NZD leads, CHF lags
News flow was light on Wednesday but price action was lively as the antipodeans led the way. The RBNZ was earlier in the day but didn't contain any surprises. Instead, the price action seems to be about some pent up demand or would-be buyers waiting for the dust to settle.
Climbing commodity prices were also a big factor with everything but gold (and live cattle) climbing today.
The jump in oil accelerated after the US inventory report and a break of the late-March high and that helped to pull along the loonie with its commodity counterparts. USD/CAD couldn't push through 1.2500 though, stopping right at the figure as bids held but it was still a substantial fall from 1.2575 at the highs.
EUR/USD is another very interesting spot to watch after it took a run at the late-March highs and 1.2000. It didn't quite make it through but is at 1.1977 and set to close near the highs.
Tune in for tomorrow's US retail sales report and before you do, read this:
Preview: Economists are expecting a strong March retail sales report. Why it might be even stronger
