Forex news for North American trade on February 14, 2019:
- US December retail sales -1.2% vs +0.1% m/m expected
- Canada December manufacturing sales -1.3% vs +0.4% m/m expected
- US final demand PPI YoY 2.1% vs 2.0% est. MoM -0.1% vs 0.1% est
- US initial jobless claims 239K vs 225K estimate
- Canada December new housing price index 0.0% vs 0.0% m/m expected
- White House confirms Trump will sign funding bill and declare emergency
- Large differences remain but US could drop 10% China tariffs - report
- Corbyn amendment defeated 322-306
- Corbyn to meet EU's Barnier this week in bid to break impasse
- Fed's Brainard: Downside risks have increased, retail sales a 'mess'
- US November business inventories -0.1% vs +0.2% expected
- China pledges to boost chip purchases in bid for trade deal - report
Markets:
- NZD leads, GBP lags
- Gold up $6 to $1312
- WTI crude up 59-cents to $54.49
- S&P 500 down 7 points to 2745
- US 10-year yields down 5.2 bps to 2.65%
US markets were battered by bad news including retail sales, poor signs in trade negotiations and Trump planning to declare an emergency but risk assets held up relatively well with the S&P 500 initially falling 20 points only to pare that down to 7 points at the close.
The pain was more acute in USD/JPY as it slide to 110.50 on a 50 pip drop on retail sales only to bounce to 110.80 then later slide to a fresh session low of 110.46, where it finished.
Cable was in the doldrums once again as it sank to a low of 1.2773, which is a one-month low. It's fallen in four of the past five days as Brexit grinds on with no end in sight.
EUR/USD tried to take advantage of the weak US dollar on retail sales but was barely able to spring from the session low of 1.1250. It touched 1.1310 then fell almost all the way back down into the London fix. After that drop, it grinded back to 1.1300. The good news is that there is a minor double bottom at 1.1250 now.
USD/CAD touched a three-week high at 1.3340 after poor Canadian manufacturing sales dampened Q4 growth prospects. However oil prices turned around late and the pair fell back to 1.3295. The selling peaked at 11 am ET so the fix might have been a factor as well.
