Forex news for North American trade on May 8, 2018:
- Trump announces US will leave Iran nuclear agreement
- Leaders of UK, France and Germany release joint statement on Iran deal
- Iran's Rouhani says Tehran will remain in a nuclear deal without Washington
- Forza Italia considering allowing moves to allow a 5-Star/League govt - report
- Italy's Berlusconi denies he is stepping aside to allow 5-Star/League gov't
- The Fed's senior loan officer survey reports easier standards for business
- US Treasury sells 3-year notes at 2.664% vs 2.665% WI bid
- Argentina in talks with IMF for $30 billion credit line
- ECB's Vasiliauskas: Ending QE in December is a realistic scenario
- US March JOLTS job openings 6550K vs 6100K expected
- Canada April housing starts 214.4K vs 222.0K expected
Markets:
- WTI crude down $1.02 to $69.71
- Gold up $1 to $1315
- US 10-year yields up 2 bps to 2.97%
- S&P 500 down 1 points to 2672
- CHF leads, AUD lags
Markets waited in suspense for news on the Iran nuclear deal. The initial move was higher in the US dollar across the board in part due to a safe haven bid that extended to JPY and CHF. Great JOLTS data may have helped a bit as well.
Then the leaks started with talk Trump would delay, then leave then denials and that sent oil all over the place. The first move was $2 lower in WTI and that sent USD/CAD to a test of 1.3000 but it came a couple pips short on heavy offers at the big figure then started to slump lower.
At the same time, some cable buyers stepped in after another modest fresh low. It's been getting tougher to push the envelop on GBP/USD for the past few days and with the BOE coming that might have been a signal to cover. The pair rallied to 1.3550 from a low of 1.3485.
EUR/USD fell as low as 1.1838 then bounced a half cent before settling at 1.1865. The comments from Vasiliauskas weren't a factor.
Ultimately, all the focus was oil but it finished at $70 after a wild trip down to $67.63 and plenty of chop in between. Watch Monday's high at $70.76 for clues about what's next.
