Forex headlines for August 15, 2013:

  • US initial jobless claims 320k vs 335k exp
  • August US Empire state manufacturing survey 8.24 vs 10.0 exp
  • July US CPI 2.0% vs 2.0% exp y/y
  • July Canadian existing home sales 0.2% m/m vs 3.3% prior
  • US July industrial production was flat, missing estimates
  • US NAHB August housing market index 59 vs 57 expected
  • August Philly Fed 9.3 vs 15.0 expected
  • US 10 year yields hit highest since 2011 at 2.82%
  • S&P 500 down 1.4% to 1661
  • S&P 500 close is lowest since July 10
  • CHF leads, USD lags

It was a tale of two days for the dollar. As the economic data poured out the dollar rallied higher and higher. The peak came after the Philly Fed as EUR/USD came with a few pips of 1.3200. But USD/JPY wasn’t along for the ride. The pair topped 98.50 after the CPI data but negative comments on global growth from Wal-Mart and Cisco soured the mood in stock markets and it began to slide. After 97.60 broke it turned into a broad rout on the buck.

No big headline was behind the dollar misery but the breakout of gold undermined dollar demand. As $1350/oz broke the dollar began to roll over and gold eventually touched $1370.

What might be most telling is that the dollar has failed in any kind of meaningful bounce. The dollar has been skidding along the bottom. Even further falls in stocks aren’t helping the dollar against commodity currencies.