Forex news for US trading on April 15, 2016:
- U Mich April prelim consumer sentiment 89.7 vs 92.0 expected
- April 2016 US Empire State manufacturing 9.56 vs 2.21 exp
- March 2016 US industrial production -0.6% vs -0.1% exp m/m
- 7.1m earthquake hits Japan's Kumamoto area
- Michael Saunders to take spot on Bank of England's MPC
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Yen longs extend to most since at least 1992
- ECB's Nowotny: Does not expect further oil price decline
- Ecuador says Doha oil meeting will be decisive in short-term
- Baker Hughes US oil rig count 351 vs 354 last week
- Fed's Evans: Needs more confidence inflation will rise to target
- More from the Fed's Evans: Data softer than I was expecting
- ECB's Knot: Economic growth not spectacular, but it's growth
- Draghi: Inflation likely to be slightly negative in coming months before picking up
- G20 draft communique: We reaffirm previous FX commitments
- New York Fed GDP Nowcast sees Q1 GDP at 0.8% vs 1.1% prior
- ECB's Weidmann says G20 discussed need to avoid competitive devaluations
- Canada March existing home sales +1.5% vs +0.8% prior
- Canada Feb manufacturing sales -3.3% vs -1.5% expected
- Canada March Teranet house price index +7.0% y/y vs +6.5% prior
- Ted Cruz says US should have a rules-based monetary policy
Markets:
- Gold up $6 to $1234
- WTI crude down $1.16 to $40.34
- S&P 500 down 2 points to 2080
- US 10-year yields down 4 bps to 1.75%
- NZD leads, CHF lags
Cable caught a bid into the London close and it extended afterwards. The lone bit of news was Saunders and he's more dovish than Weale so there was no catalyst for the buying, although there was a poll that showed the 'remain' side in the referendum lead.
The US dollar was under broad pressure after a three-day reprieve. USD/JPY was down to 108.80 when US traders arrived but fell further to 108.60 as risk sentiment wobbled. It finished back around where it started US trading.
The euro tried the upside twice, hitting a session high of 1.1317 but it formed a minor double top there and skidded back to 1.1283. Overall the moves were small as markets wait for Doha and the next move from central banks.
One of the larger moves was USD/CAD as it rose up to a session high of 1.2903 and then peeled back to 1.2833 despite pressure on oil prices. The divergence is tough to explain, aside from the continued pro-CAD sentiment.
AUD/USD slipped to 0.7685 from 0.7715 but slowly recouped the losses. The 0.7725 zone is beginning to show signs of good offers and will be a spot to watch when Asia opens next week.
This was one year ago today.
