Forex news for North American trading on October 19, 2021:
- US September housing starts 1.555m vs 1.620m expected
- Fed's Waller: Will favor earlier liftoff if inflation runs considerably above 2% well into 2022
- Waller: We are ready to stop high inflation if we have to
- Waller: If inflation expectations rise, you will see Fed action
- Schumer: There is universal agreement on need for Dems to agree this week
- Atlanta Fed GDPNow Q3 estimate hits a new low ahead of next week's release
- Fed's Bowman: Many older workers who left the workforce are unlikely to return
- Fed's Barkin: Labor shortages may outlast pandemic
- Lane pushes back against market pricing for ECB rate hikes
- Global Dairy Trade price index rises by 2.2%
Markets:
- Gold up $4 to $1769
- US 10-year yields up 5.3 bps to 1.637%
- WTI crude oil up 41-cents to $82.85
- S&P 500 up 33 points to 4519
- NZD leads, JPY lags
The US dollar made a move higher early as long-term yields pushed to the upside in a steepener. The positive tone in the dollar battled with the better tone in risk overall on a few fronts, including commodity currencies. In general though, the dollar made up some of the ground it lost in Europe and Asia. It still finished the day lower and barely ahead of the free falling yen.
In crypto it was a banner day as the first US ETF began trading under the BITO symbol with 24 million shares traded in the $40-$42 range. Initially, there was a 'sell the fact' move lower in bitcoin but it steadied just ahead of $61,000 and made a second run to $64.,00 to finish at the highs of the day and just below the all-time high set in April of $64,800. Keep a close eye on that number.
More to come
