Forex news for February 20, 2015:
- Greece and eurozone leaders agree to 4-month bailout extension
- Canadian retail sales Dec mm -2.0% vs -0.4% exp
- Markit prelim Feb US manufacturing PMI 54.3 vs 53.6 exp
- Baker Hughes rig count 1310 vs 1358 prior
- TD expecting BOC to cut rates by 0.25% in March
- Settlement reached in west coast port workers dispute
- Dukascopy cuts weekend leverage on euro trading
- Bullard favors dropping 'patient' at March meeting
- Plosser Fed will have to do something about 'patient' rate guidance at March meeting
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Euro shorts trimmed
- Russia cut to junk by Moody's with a negative outlook
- S&P 500 closes at record, up 13 points to 2110
- Gold down $5 to $1202
- US 10 year yields flat at 2.11%
- WTI crude down $1.06 to $50.79
- NZD leads, GBP lags
It was a long, twisting saga that ends the same way virtually every other deal with Greece has ended -- with a punt. Greek leaders essentially backed down and accepted a 4-month extension of the current agreement.
The euro touched the session low of 1.1279 just as US trading was getting underway. The pre-meeting period started out with some tough talk and it looked as if a deal might be possible. But the tone changed when Dijsselbloem said "There is still reason for some optimism but it's very difficult" and the euro jumped 60 pips. About 3 hours later a Greek official said it appeared there was an accord and minutes later the euro hit a session high of 1.1430. From there, some selling the fact began to set in and the euro closed nearly flat at 1.1381.
The real winner was the risk trade and that meant yen weakness. USD/JPY touched 118.30 early in US trading when expectations were dimmest but it charted ard to 119.19 from 118.30 in a generally one-way move.
The loser in New York trading was the Canadian dollar after a dreadful retail sales report. USD/CAD was down ahead of the data put shot to a one week high of 1.2565 from 1.2422 ahead of the data. A BOC cut is about 85% priced into the OIS market now.
Cable retraced a droped down to 1.5343 with a rebound back to 1.5420 and then a late slide to 1.5383.
On the week, the Australian dollar led while the loonie lagged.
I don't think many traders will be eating Greek cuisine on the weekend, I've certainly had enough of Greece for a few days. Have a great weekend.
