Forex news for February 25, 2015:
- Inflation will get worse before it gets better says Yellen
- It would be depressing if slower productivity becomes the new normal says Yellen
- Draghi - For last few quarters inflation has been on a downward trend
- Draghi sees first signs of confidence in real economy
- Fonterra maintains 2014-2015 milk forecast
- January 2015 US new home sales 481k vs 470k exp m/m
- French jobseekers net change -19.1K vs +8K expected
- Goldman Sachs lowers euro forecasts
- US credit card spending rebounds
- Hilsenrath: FOMC statement could be copy-paste from Yellen
- US EIA crude oil inventories +8.4B vs +4.0B exp
- Gold down $1 to $1204
- S&P 500 down 2 points to 2114
- WTI crude up $1.75 to $51.03
- NZD leads, USD lags
There wasn't much to say about forex trading in US hours as the market generally moved sideways. The second day of testimony from Yellen was a dud and the economic data calendar was light.
The comment from Draghi about the first signs of confidence jumped out at me and the French data was good but the euro didn't flinch. But keep in mind that the numbers there are getting a bit better.
The perky pound was back in action as traders digest comments from the BOE. Some early selling took the pair back to 1.5470 in New York but it was higher from there and it closed near the early-European high of 1.5535.
USD/CAD was on the defensive but not as much as you'd think given the rally in oil. Crude prices jumped despite a large build in crude supplies. The low came immediately after the data but the squeeze was on after that.
