Forex news for US trading Feb 22, 2016:
- S&P cuts ratings on another handful of oil companies
- El-Badri: OPEC willing to cooperate with non-OPEC producers to find a solution
- ECB's Liikanen: We're ready to do more at March meeting
- ECB's Lautenschläger: Challenge for small/medium banks is low rates and low profits
- Poll shows lead for Britons who want to stay in EU
- EU deal delivers concrete reforms in all areas says Cameron
- Fitch becomes the next agency to weigh into the Brexit talk
- ECB QE count data: Bought €12.570bn vs €12.718bn prior
- February 2016 US Markit manufacturing PMI flash 51.0 vs 52.0 exp
- Moody's: Deepening oil slump raises risks for Canadian banks
- How's this for cheeky? Italy says ECB extraordinary measures are insufficient
- Fed's Williams: The big picture for me hasn't changed
- January 2016 US Chicago Fed national activity index +0.28 vs -0.10 exp
- UK's Cameron loses support for EU deal from business advisors - Livesquawk
- IEA says oil market will begin rebalancing in 2017
Markets:
- WTI crude oil up $1.84 to $31.48
- Gold down $18 to $1208
- US 10-year yields up 2 bps to 1.76%
- S&P 500 up 25 points to 1943
- AUD leads GBP lags
The pound was the story of the day.
It fell hard at the open as Boris Johnson threw his support behind a Brexit and then it consolidated until London arrived and then another round of selling got underway. Bids ahead of 1.4050 finally stopped the bleeding just as US traders arrived. From there it was a slow climb back to 1.4150 when London finally went home. It chopped around there afterwards.
It's been quiet after Europe went home in general. EUR/USD also bottomed at the start of US trading at just above 1.1000 and has risen up to 1.1035 but failed to break higher. Watch for buy stops if that level gives way.
USD/JPY has experienced some selling in a quick slide down to 112.80 from 113.20. The decline comes despite a buoyant tone in stock markets. The S&P 500 has stayed tight to the +25 point range since the open.
The commodity currencies have been in heavy demand all day. Aside from Brexit, the big story on the day is rising prices for oil and metals. AUD/USD broke above 0.7200 early in US trading and continued to 0.7248 and then fell back to 0.7228.
USD/CAD fell hard down to 1.3659 from 1.3775 then bounced to 1.3705. Crude was up more than 7% at the highs despite some negative headlines from the EIA.
Gold fell to $1203 early then bounced to $1215 before sliding to $1207. There is lots of support in the $1200/$1190 range that bears close watching this week.
