Forex news for North American trade on December 28, 2018:
- December Chicago PMI 65.4 vs 60.3 expected
- German CPI for Dec (P) +0.1% vs 0.3% est. YoY 1.7% vs 1.9% est
- Baker Hughes oil rigs rise to 885 vs 881 est.
- US November pending home sales -0.7% vs +1.0% expected
- Trade balance and wholesale inventory data delayed due to government shutdown
- China injects a net 230 billion yuan via reverse repos
Markets:
- Gold up $2 to $1281
- US 10-year yields touch 2.71%, lowest since February
- WTI crude oil up 98-cents to $45.33
- JPY leads, CAD lags
It was another choppy session to cap a week for the record books. The S&P 500 eventually finished narrowly lower but that's an intraday disappointment for the bulls after strong gains earlier in the session.
USD/JPY finished near the lows of the day despite some positive news from the Chicago PMI. The US government shutdown looks to have no end in sight and that didn't help. The pair finished down 33 pipps to 110.27.
Market moves were generally modest overall in the FX market with the Canadian dollar under some pressure in thin trade despite a bounce in oil. That was partly due to signs of a heavy production slowdown in Canadian oil with the Canadian Baker Hughes count plunging.
The euro and cable both made some headway against the US dollar in part because of plunging Treasury yields. EUR/USD has battled up towards the top end of the two month range while cable continues to show some dim signs of life.
