Forex news for US trading May 21, 2015:

  • US initial jobless claims 274k vs 271k exp
  • US May prelim Markit PMI 53.8 vs 54.5 expected
  • May 2015 US Philly Fed business optimism index 6.7 vs 8.0 exp
  • Draghi: Economic conditions have improved recently
  • May 2015 Eurozone consumer confidence -5.5 vs -4.8 exp
  • May 2015 KC Fed manufacturing index -13 vs -2 prior
  • US April existing home sales 5.04m vs 5.23m expected
  • April US leading indicators +0.7% vs +0.3% expected
  • Chicago Fed national activity index -0.15 vs 0.00 expected
  • BOE's Weale says oil may have bigger than expected impact on 2016 inflation
  • Saudi oil minster says one day they'll be exporting electric power
  • No comments on the US outlook from the Fed's Fischer
  • US sells 10-year TIPS at 0.358% vs 0.345% WI
  • Gold down $3.50 to $1206
  • WTI crude up $1.75 to $60.73
  • S&P 500 up 5 points to 2131 - closing record
  • US 10-year yields down 6 bps to 2.19%
  • GBP leads, CAD lags

Another day, another string of US economic data. With Yellen speaking tomorrow, she could cast doubts on the optimistic case and that might hurt the dollar but today the softish numbers hardly left a dent.

USD/JPY did a few round trips in the 120.95 to 121.25 range before finishing near the downside. It's a small decline for the pair but ends five straight days of gains.

EUR/USD peaked at 1.1180 in European trade but was already on the backfoot as US traders arrived. The pair continued to slide down to 1.1105 but found repeated bids ahead of the big figure and bounced up to 1.1140. Last at 1.1120.

Cable was a superstar after the great retail sales data earlier. The move was over by the time US traders arrived and it's been pure consolidation in the 1.5650 to 1.5700 range.

USD/CAD caught a bid early and rose up to 1.2240 but a rebound in oil trades in New York trading sparked selling and the pair slid down to 1.2187. That was still 15 pips above the European low and overall, there wasn't much drama in CAD today after big moves earlier in the week. Last at 1.2207.

AUD/USD tested yeterday's low at 0.7861 but didn't break and that sparked a modest rebound to 0.7860.