Forex news for North American trade on May 28, 2019:
- US May consumer confidence 134.1 vs 130.0 expected
- US March FHFA house price index +0.1% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- US March Case-Shiller 20-city house price index +2.68% vs +2.55% y/y expected
- China: seriously considering restricting rare earth exports to the US - report
- Tusk: Brexit has been a vaccine against anti-EU propaganda
- Merkel says she wants European Commission President settled by June summit
- Canadian gov't to present bill on new NAFTA ratification Wednesday - report
- US sells 5-year notes at lowest yield since October 2017
- Juncker 'crystal clear' there will be no Brexit renegotiation
- Dallas Fed manufacturing activity index for May -5.3 versus 5.8 expected
Markets:
- Gold down $9 to $1280
- WTI crude up 40-cents to $59.04
- US 10-year yields down 5.6 bps to 2.26%
- S&P 500 down 23 points to 2802
- JPY leads, CAD lags
There wasn't much to get excited about in early trading and most global markets were flatish but the US bond market got into a sour mood early and eventually stocks joined in. One worry is a SCMP report saying that the US had made new, unreasonable demands late in talks. It landed in Europe but didn't get a wider airing until later.
The bond market was highlighting problems all day but stocks were upbeat early. That eventually faded and stocks slumped hard late to finish near the key 2800 support level. Tomorrow will be important from a technical perspective.
The loonie softened as sentiment worsened and the Swiss franc climbed. USD/JPY held up throughout the day before a 15-pip slide late. The Australian dollar traded in a 20 pip range throughout North American trade.
Gold took a $12 fall as New York arrived on what looked to be flows. It found support at $1276 and chopped sideways from there.
The euro and pound both hit session lows late but the total damage on the day was 30 pips. The soft close and minor H&S on EUR/USD is a reason for caution.
