Forex news for North American trading on March 15, 2019:
- DUP's Dodd: We want to get a deal. Progress being made.
- DUP to stay in London for weekend to work on backstop
- The US JOLTS job openings for Jan 7581 vs 7225 estimate
- US February industrial production +0.1% vs +0.4% expected
- Canada February existing home sales -9.1% vs -4.0% expected
- Canada January manufacturing sales +1.0% vs +0.4% expected
- US Empire manufacturing for March 3.7 vs 10.0 estimate
- Trump uses veto to uphold emergency declaration and wall funds
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: We're back up to date
- Baker Hughes oil rig count 833 vs 830 estimate
Markets:
- Gold up $5.50 to $1302
- WTI crude oil down 20-cents to $58.42
- US 10-year yields down 4 bps to 2.59%
- S&P 500 up 14 points to 2822
- GBP leads, CAD lags
It was another lively day to wrap up the week but flows were a bigger driver than fundamentals as we hit quadruple witching.
The euro dropped down to 1.1300 (exactly) early in US trading but bids there held and that started a sharp reversal to the highs of the day at 1.1344, taking out some stops on the way up before later drifting down to 1.1320.
USD/JPY traded in a narrow range 10 pips on each side of 111.50 and wasn't affected much by the ebb and flow in stock markets or the risk trade. It finished lower as yields remained stuck on the floor.
Cable was buoyant on hopes for a DUP deal that will set off a chain of dominoes that leads to May getting her deal through Parliament. Depending on how the talks go over the weekend, the pound could have a big move when the market reopens. It was generally strong on teh day, especially in the final hours of London trading as it rose to 1.3300.
USD/CAD rallied as oil prices slid early in the day on talk of Iran sanctions waivers. Soft housing data is also beginning to grab the attention of the market and the pair rallies all the way to 1.3371 from 1.3300 in Asia before slipping back to 1.3350 to end the day.
The kiwi was quiet on the day and our thoughts this weekend are with the victims of the terrorist attack in Christchurch.
