Forex news for North American trade on March 29, 2021:
- Suez ship re-floated and straightened up
- Fed's Waller: Moves in yields show that US economy is improving
- Canada panel says won't recommend AstraZeneca vaccine to under-55 age group
- Biden to announce that 90% of Americans will be eligible for vaccine by April 19
- BOE's Vlieghe: Don't like bank rate to short-term growth
- Dallas Fed March manufacturing activity +28.9 vs +14.5 expected
- ECB net PEPP purchases +18.95B vs +21.05B prior
Markets:
- Gold down $21 to $1711
- US 10-year yields up 3.5 bps to 1.71%
- WTI crude up 58-cents to $61.56
- S&P 500 up 2 points to 3977
- CHF leads, EUR lags
Coming into the day there was all kinds of buzz about Archegos and block trades but it ended up being a fairly confined session. The Suez news hit in Asia but it was a false alarm but then the ship was freed for real just as New York was ramping up. The oil market dipped but helped the earlier lows and then turned around to finish near the highs.
There were some decent market moves overall, including a trip to 1.3847 in cable from 1.3766 and then back again. There was some heavy selling in GBP/USD (and broad USD buying) into the London fix that reversed shortly afterwards. But a late rise in US yields rekindled the dollar bid and cable is set to finish near the lows.
EUR/USD chopped around heavily, including a 20-pip back and forth move into the London fix. It ultimately revised lower and is in danger of carving out new lows for the year. Keep a close eye on it in the day ahead.
USD/JPY held a nice bid in a run up to 109.80. It was a steady move higher in US trading to finish the day moderately higher. An orderly day in equities after an early slump helped sentiment.
Commodity currencies mostly brushed off the broader volatility to trade close to unchanged. USD/CAD rose to 1.2620 briefly as oil fell but rebounded along with crude to 1.2595.
