Forex news for North American trade on November 9, 2018:
- U Mich consumer sentiment 98.3 vs 98.0 expected
- PBOC to keep policy continuity and stability
- Fed's Williams: Sustainable growth depends on a healthy jobs market
- US October PPI +0.6% vs +0.2% m/m expected
- Mexico: Lopez-Obrador says no fiscal/economic changes in first three years
- Baker Hughes US oil rig count 886 vs 874 prior
- China's Yang says economic teams to seek mutually acceptable solutions on trade
- DUP's Foster says won't support May's proposal in its current form
- Navarro: Tariffs haven't led to predicted doom and gloom
- Conservative politician Jo Johnson quits over Brexit
- US wholesale trade sales +0.2% vs +0.4% expected
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Euro shorts emboldened
Markets:
- Gold down $14 to $1210
- WTI crude down 81-cents to $59.85
- S&P 500 down 37 points to 2770
- US 10-year yields down 5 bps to 3.19%
- JPY leads, GBP lags on the day
- NZD leads, CAD lags on the week
The US dollar was generally stronger to close out the week as equities and commodities sold off. Oil was in focus with a record-setting tenth consecutive day of declines. It's worse in Canada where a $42 discount sent the local benchmark to the lowest since February 2016. That helped to boost USD/CAD to a high of 1.3223, which is the highest since July 20 before settling back to 1.3196.
Cable hit an iceberg on more reports of more trouble on the Irish border and that sapped some optimism from a decent GDP report. The selling came mostly after the London fix on reports of Jo Johnson's resignation. That sent cable as low as 1.2958.
The euro also tried the downside and fell to a session low of 1.1316 but didn't push the envelop much and bounced to 1.1336 late, finishing down another quarter-cent as Italian spreads widened again.
AUD and NZD finish the week as the top performers but they gave back some ground on Friday as the US dollar caught a broad bid on risk aversion after the London fix.
USD/JPY was in a very slow, choppy grind lower all day that accelerated as US stocks selling intensified. The pair tried to get back above 114.00 but failed and hit a session low of 113.64 before bouncing to 113.75 late.
Note that Monday is a holiday in some markets because of the Armistice anniversary on Sunday so be prepared for a chop.
I'll be in London next week for the Finance Magnates Summit, so Giles will be holding the reigns.
