Forex news for US trading on May 4, 2016:
- April 2016 US ISM non-manufacturing PMI 55.7 vs 54.7 exp
- April 2016 US Markit services PMI final 52.8 vs 52.1 exp
- Q1 2016 US labour costs prelim 4.1% vs 3.3% exp q/q
- Canada March trade balance -$3.41B vs -$1.40B expected
- March 2016 US trade balance -40.4bn vs -41.5bn exp
- April 20106 US ADP employment report 156k vs 196k exp
- Japan PM Abe: We see speculative moves in the FX market
- ECB ends production of 500-euro note
- Queen gives the seal of approval to new law on MPC meetings
- Donald Trump's Republican opponents quit, 6 reasons he will win it all
- US crude oil inventories +2784K vs +750K expected
- March US factory orders +1.1% vs +0.6% expected
- Bill Gross says get ready for more Fed QE
Markets:
- Gold down $6 to $1280
- WTI crude up 19-cents to $43.85
- S&P 500 down 12 points to 2043
- US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 1.78%
- USD leads, CAD lags
The big theme yesterday was US dollar strength and that came into peril after the soft ADP data. USD/JPY skidded 45 pips to a session low of 106.25 after the news and dollar selling began to spread.
But USD weakness was blunted by the trade balance report and then reversed by good ISM data. USD/JPY climbed all the way back 107.25 late in the day before slipping to 106.93.
EUR and GBP trading against the dollar was more subdued as yesterday's reversals consolidate. EUR/USD tried the upside and downside with a range of 1.1467 to 1.1559 in US trading but we finish in the middle and unchanged on the day.
Commodity currencies were generally soft in a minor continuation of yesterday. The big mover, though, was CAD as it took a broad beating. Oil prices were flattish but Canada's trade number was the worst in years and a wildfire at the heart of Canada's oil producing region destroyed at least 1,600 structures and continues to rage.
