Forex news for US trading on July 25, 2017:
- July US consumer confidence 121.1 vs 116.5 expected
- Richmond Fed Manufacturing index for July 14 vs 7 estimate
- FHFA May US house price index +0.4% vs +0.5% expected
- Case-Shiller US 20-city house price index 5.69% vs +5.75% y/y expected
- Trump says he's very disappointed in Jeff Sessions, hints he could be fired
- Senate votes to proceed on Republican healthcare bill
- US Commerce Secretary Ross: NAFTA is obsolete
- France job seekers 3.483M down -10.9K in June
- ECB's Nowotny: No need to set a time table to end bond buying
- Petronas bails on huge LNG project in Canada in a total government failure
- Cohn and Yellen are candidates to lead Fed, Trump says
- July Philly Fed non-manufacturing index 23.4 vs 33.6
- Caterpillar beat expectations on Q2 2017 earnings
Markets:
- AUD leads, CHF lags
- WTI crude up $2.21 to $48.55
- US 10-year yields up 8 bps to 2.33%
- Gold down $6 to $1249
- S&P 500 gains 7 points to record 2477
The US dollar struggled and then recovered in North American trade. The initial move sent the euro up to 1.1712, which was just a couple pips short of the August 2015 high. That level held, consumer confidence was strong and Republicans passed the vote to start debate on healthcare. That sent the pair down to 1.1646 to finish close to unchanged in a volatile day.
Cable followed a similar path as it climbed to 1.3087 from 1.3020 only to finish back where it started. Bids at 1.3000 are holding on the downside so far.
USD/CAD was pulled in a few directions by oil, NAFTA worries and the general US dollar trade. It fell below 1.25 for the second day but couldn't break below Monday's low and then jumped up to 1.2530 before finishing back close to the big figure on late sales due to the API oil report.
Yen selling was a broader theme, in large part to rising global yields. The record in stocks and upbeat comments from Caterpillar helped the trade. USD/JPY came close to 112.00 from 111.50 and had a steady bid from 111.00 starting in Asia.
