Forex news for North American trade on March 2, 2018
- Canada Q4 2017 GDP annualized +1.7% vs +2.0% expected
- Juncker: EU will target Harley Davidson, bourbon and blue jeans in retaliation
- EU considering duties of $3.5 billion on US imports if US goes ahead with plan - report
- Canada looking at what sanctions it could apply immediately if US imposes tariffs
- No one is in a position to leave NAFTA talks - Mexican negotiator
- Baker Hughes oil rig count 800 vs. 799 last week
- The NY Fed GDP Nowcast projects 3.0% 1Q growth
- Canada PM Trudeau says he told Trump directly that tariffs are "absolutely unacceptable"
- Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross: Trump seemed to announce tariffs will be global
- Feb final U Mich consumer sentiment 99.7 vs 99.5 expected
- US Feb ISM NY Index business conditions 54.5 vs 62.0 exp
- May says Brexit is not an end in itself but a new beginning for UK relationship with EU
- May says one Brexit option is a customs partnership with EU
- May: ECJ can not be the ultimate arbiter after Brexit
- May says government will make UK a place for everyone not just privileged few
- CFTC commitment of traders: EUR longs increase
Markets:
- Gold up $5 to $1322
- WTI crude up 40-cents to $61.39
- US 10-year yields up 5 bps to 2.86%
- S&P 500 up 13 points to 2691
- EUR leads, CAD lags
- On the week, JPY leads, CAD lags
Trump is probably bluffing. Or the people who say they will retaliate are bluffing.
Those are the messages from the market on Friday as stocks closed higher and USD/JPY climbed from the lows.
It's a dangerous game after Trump tweeted early in the morning that trade wars are good and Wilbur Ross went on a communication offensive.
The worries dominated early and USD/JPY fell to a 14-month low of 105.25. It slowly ticked back as the S&P 500 turned a 30 point loss into a 15 point gain and finished near 105.75.
EUR/USD was less enthusiastic about giving up its gains, even with the Italian election coming on Sunday. It made a high of 1.2336 late in the day and finished just shy of the best levels and up slightly on the week.
Cable struggled this week on renewed Brexit fears but was slightly higher Friday on a late uptick. May's speech didn't reveal much and it was a chop around 1.3785 all day without too much daylight on either side.
USD/CAD had a very strong week. Late Friday it was testing the triple-top at 1.2920 but couldn't break through and fell back to 1.2873, which was basically flat in North American trade, but up 35 pips on the day. It will be a key pair in the week ahead.
AUD/USD was more contained as it ranged around 0.7750 before finishing slightly higher.
Have a great weekend and look out for Italian election results just as the market opens on Sunday. We'll have all the news.
