Forex news for North American trade on March 19, 2018:
- ECB sources: Policymakers shifting debate to steepness of rate path - report
- Trump and Saudi Crown Prince to discuss cooperation on Iran
- Channel 4 sting of Cambridge Analytica released
- Trump says major litigation could be coming against drug companies
- ECB's Mersch: Economic recovery is doing better than expected
- Trump issues executive order on cryptocurrencies to block Venezuelan govt cryptocurrencies
- DUP says 'nothing to concern us' in Brexit transition statement
- ECB's Jazbec to step down
- Trudeau: Trump seems enthusiastic about getting a NAFTA deal
- UAE repeat that oil output cuts will continue until the end of 2018
- Belgian March consumer sentiment +3 vs +1 prior
- Twitter will be the next to ban cryptocurrency ads - report
- BOJ's Kuroda says G20 likely to agree on importance of free trade
- UK's BCC welcomes Brexit transition deal
Markets:
- Gold up $2 to $1317
- WTI crude down 21-cents to $62.13
- S&P 500 down 39 points to 2712
- US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 2.85%
- GBP leads, JPY lags
The major headlines were positive news about Brexit and the ECB outlook. In turn, that gave a solid lift to the pound and to the euro. The GBP news hit before North America arrived and sent cable on a path to 1.4075 from 1.3925 but later in the day profit-taking or second thoughts hit and sent the pair down to 1.4026.
EUR/USD jumped to 1.2320 from 1.2280 on the initial headline then steadily climbed to 1.2350 before a late dip to 1.2338. Good signs on US steel tariff exemptions also helped the euro.
USD/JPY was sway, in part, but the ebb in stock markets. Tech led a selloff after a series of different reports on Cambridge Analytica put a spotlight on how Facebook data is being exploited to win elections. Facebook shares fell as much as 8% and tech suffered more broadly before a late bounce.
The commodity currencies found themselves in a relief rally after 2-3 poor days of trading. USD/CAD touched 1.3120 in Asia, only to fall to 1.3071 on NAFTA hopes.
