Forex news for US trading on August 17, 2015:
- Empire Fed manufacturing index -14.92 vs +4.50 expected
- NAHB US housing market index 61 vs 61 expected
- PBOC may cut RRR amid tightening liquidity - Securities Journal
- Dallas Fed names Robert S. Kaplan as new President
- Earthquake shakes Oakland California
- ECB QE count: PSP €269.9bn vs €259.7prior
- The annotated Greek MOU -- by Yanis Varoufakis
- Gold up $2.65 to $1117
- S&P 500 up 11 points to 2102
- US 10-year yields down 3 bps to 1.59%
- WTI crude oil down 66-cents to $41.84
- NZD leads, GBP lags
It looked like we would get a taste of the Summer doldrums but the movement in markets was pretty good for an August Monday. The weak Empire Fed shook things up and let to some momentary US dollar weakness but after hitting 1.1125, EUR/USD was under steady pressure in a slide to 1.1059 where it finally found support ahead of touted bids at 1.1050.
Cable was also hit by sellers as it fell steadily to 1.5688 from 1.5640 at the start of US trading. It wasn't generalized USD but more of a case of GBP and EUR selling -- likely flow related.
Instead, the US dollar was under pressure against the commodity currencies for most of the session. USD/CAD peaked ahead of the Empire data at 1.3152 then fell to 1.3060 as oil prices rebounded. Late selling in oil only inspired a bounce to 1.3085.
USD/JPY slumped on the Empire data, falling to 124.22 from 124.55 but as stocks recovered, the pair slowly climbed back to 124.42.
