Forex headlines for February 14, 2014:

  • January US industrial production -0.3% vs +0.3% exp m/m
  • February US Michigan consumer sentiment flash 81.2 vs 80.6 exp
  • Canadian Dec manufacturing sales -0.9% m/m vs 0.0% expected
  • January US import prices +0.1% vs -0.1% exp m/m
  • Philly Fed survey: US Q1 2014 GDP to 2.0% from 2.5% prior
  • Canadian January existing home sales -3.3% vs -1.8% prior
  • US economy on the up even through the bad weather says Fed’s Fisher
  • ECB’s Weidmann: Expansionary policy is justified
  • Nasdaq hits 13-year high
  • Gold up $17 to $1320
  • WTI crude flat at $100.36
  • US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 2.74%
  • S&P 500 up 8 points to 1838
  • GBP leads, CAD lags

The pound was the star of the show on Friday as it flirts with the 2011 high of 1.6747. M&A demand, cascading stops, momentum and broken barriers all added to the upside in cable as it stormed another 85 pips high to cap the week. The 1.6743 initial high came at the start of US trading then the pair backed off to 1.6719 but it was only a breather ahead of another push.

A few lovers might get gold rings today and buying the precious metal proved to be a shrewd move today with prices up $17 to $1319. The move started yesterday but gained additional momentum after the 200-day moving average broke in Asia. There is hardly any near-term resistance so the gold bugs will be buzzing this weekend.

USD/JPY was indifferent to a rally in stock markets on Friday. It was a quiet day of trading in a 101.75-102.00 range. One warning about all the moves today was that they came on low liquidity due to the combination of bad US weather and a long weekend coming up.

Similar story in the euro. It climbed to 1.3715 just as US trader were arriving at their desks but it was a steady slide down to 1.3683 at the European close. It rounds out the week right at the 1.37 figure.

The loonie was hit by some bad news from low-tier economic data. The releases were old and unreliable but they were undoubtedly bad and that left the loonie at the bottom of the FX pile alongside USD. From a three-week low of 1.0940 in European trading, the pair climbed back to 1.0980.

Have a great weekend everyone!