Forex news for North American trade on March 6, 2018:
- Trump: Trade wars aren't so bad
- Canada's Freeland says will defend against unacceptable tariffs
- New Zealand GDT price index -0.6%
- Mnuchin: Tariffs won't apply to Mexico or Canada if NAFTA renegotiations are successful
- Paul Ryan calls for a "more surgical approach" on tariffs
- Canada Ivey PMI for February 59.6 vs 55.2 prior
- January US factory orders -1.4% vs -1.4% expected
- UK's Davis says there are 11 areas of contention on EU's Brexit legal text draft
- Toronto detached home prices down 14.6% y/y in February
- Fed's Kaplan: Base case is for three hikes this year. Should get started soon
Markets:
- NZD leads, CHF leads
- S&P 500 up 4 points to 2724
- Gold up $14 to $1333
- US 10-year yields flat at 2.88%
- WTI crude down 11-cents to $62.45
Trading in North America was mostly sideways after some dollar selling early in Europe. The commodity currencies were particularly strong early in the day.
EUR/USD chopped around 1.2400 in New York trade and touched a high of 1.2420 before dipping back to the figure.
USD/JPY climbed 20 pips in a quick move to 106.20 on headlines indicating Trump could temper tariffs. That's about whether the pair finished in an unchanged day.
Cable peaked at 1.3930 just as North American trading ramped up but slipped back to 1.3880 later.
USD/CAD tested 1.30 for the second time in Asia but backed down to 1.2863 in a quick fall in Europe and looks to be closing about 20 pips off the lows after a chop around 1.2900 in North American trade. Wednesday is the Bank of Canada decision.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars followed a similar path to the loonie with quick rises in Europe before leveling off. It's a big day for economic data in Australia with Q4 GDP on tap.
