Forex news for US trading on May 24, 2016:
- April US new home sales 619K vs 523K expected
- May 2016 US Richmond Fed manufacturing index -1 vs 8 exp
- Eurogroup said to agree on 10.3B disbursement for Greece
- ECB Nowotny: Low interest rates not arbitrary central bank action
- US sells 2 year note at high yield at 0.92%
- Constancio sees 2018 inflation higher than ECB's 1.6% forecast
- BOE's Kohn: Brexit would create a lot of uncertainty
- Constancio hopes that nothing will happen in Brexit vote to roil markets
- May 2016 Philly Fed non-manufacturing activity 4.6 vs 13.5 prior
- We are concerned and preparing for Brexit as much as we can says ECB's Constancio
- EU's Dijsselbloem: There will not be haircuts of Greek loans
Markets:
- Gold down $21 to $1227
- WTI crude up 72-cents to $48.80
- S&P 500 up 29 points to 2077
- US 10-year yields up 1.86%
- GBP leads, EUR lags
The US dollar had plenty of momentum from the start of the day but it caught a second wind after a surge in new home sales.
The bulk of the dollar gains were likely the tide slowly turning in real money as Fed hikes are priced in.
EUR/USD broke below the 100-day moving average and the late-March low of 1.1144 in a constant slide that started early in European trading. Bids near 1.1150 held until the housing data but that sparked a 15 pip drop to a session low.
USD/JPY climbed above 110.00 to 110.14 but couldn't get above Monday's high of 110.24. The rip in stock markets helped but, if anything, you might have expected a bit more.
USD/CAD was torn in two directions. It fell quickly down to 1.3085 from 1.3145 as oil prices rallied but the fires in Canada and the BOC tomorrow helped the market sour on CAD. The pair climbed all the way back to 1.3150 and finishes flat on the day.
The hint on lower rates from the RBA's Stevens hit the Australian dollar in Asia and it hit a fresh session low of 0.7145 just as US traders arrived. Better sentiment led to gains in the rest of US trading with a high of 0.7195 beforehand. From there it slipped to 0.7180.
