Forex news for North American traders on May 22, 2018.
- US stocks snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
- Pompeo: US will be fully prepared if US/N. Korean summit takes place in June
- OPEC. May decide to raise output in June due to Venezuela and Iran
- US sells $33b 2 year at 2.59%
- League's Salvini says Conte remains their PM candidate
- Trump: Will be great if summit with N. Korea happens. If not ok too.
- Fed's Brainard: 40% of Americans couldn't cover a $400 emergency expense
- Anyone feeling like pizza for lunch?
- European stocks end session with decent gains. UK FTSE another record close.
- GBPUSD completes a "day's lap" into the London fixing
- Mnuchin: Steel and aluminum tariffs on China remain in place
- US May Richmond Fed manufacturing index +16 vs +10 expected
- EU's Barnier: Can't guarantee Brexit deal by October
- Philadelphia Fed Non Manufacturing index for May 45.3 vs 27.6 last month
- Canada March wholesale sales +1.1% vs +0.9% expected
- The GBP is the strongest, while the USD is the weakest as the NA session begins
In other markets:
- Gold down -$1.12 at $1291.54
- WTI crude settled the June contract at $72.13, down -0.11 or -0.15%
- US 2-year yield, 2.565%, unchanged. 10-year yields 3.059%, Unchanged
- S&P 500 fell -0.31%. Nasdaq fell -0.21%. Dow fell -0.72%.
- CHF is the strongest. The CAD is the weakest.
Another day with limited economic data in the US.
The Philly Fed Non-manufacturing index was strong at 45.3 vs 27.6 last month. 10 of 13 components were higher. The news helped the dollar move a bit higher from the early session lows.
Later the Richmond Fed Manufacturing index was also higher at 16 vs 10 expected. The data was not big national data, but was nevertheless pretty good.
It also helped to push the dollar higher.
For the day, the dollar -which was down against all the major currencies at the start of the day - is ending near unchanged or higher vs most of the major currencies. The exception was the CHF. The USDCHF was more trend like to the downside on the back of a weakening technical picture (See post here).
Although the dollar did rebound, it was stalled by less than optimistic comments from Trump on China, and N. Korea. On China he said "He was not pleased with how trade talks went" and he was "not satisfied". On N. Korea, he said that there was a "substantial chance" that the June summit with N. Korea's Kim "would not work out".
Moreover, he seemed to lay some blame on N. Korea on China's Xi, saying "There was a change in attitude after Kim's second meeting with Xi" and then likened the China Premiere as a "world class poker player".
HMMM. That type of talk does not give the warm fuzzy feeling for trade or peace.
Below is the snapshot of the strongest and weakest of the major currencies. The CHF is the strongest, while the CAD is the weakest. As mentioned, with the exception of the dollars move lower vs. the CHF (-0.47%), the greenback was mixed with small gains or losses. The USD moved higher vs the EUR, CAD, and NZD, was lower vs. the JPY (and CHF) and was near unchanged vs the GBP and the AUD.
