- Bank of Canada says rates ‘appropriate for a period of time’
- Beige Book: Economy grew at ‘modest to moderate pace’
- ADP employment Feb +198K vs +170K exp
- Canada Ivey PMI 51.6 vs expected 54.8 ;
- Plosser: Fed should aim to end Q3 before year-end
- S&P says US economic growth prospects ‘brighter’
- US Jan factory orders: – 2.0% vs -2.2% exp
- Poland central bank unexpectedly cut key interest rates by 0.5% to 3.25%
- US House passes funding bill
- S&P 500 gains 0.1% to 1542
- USD leads, JPY lags
USD/JPY was the story of the day as it steadily climbed from midway through the Asian session until the end of the day. At the NY start, the pair had reached 93.45. Buy stops above 93.54 and 93.70 added to the momentum. Late in the day more stops were hit above 94.00. The focus is now on the cycle highs near 94.50.
EUR/USD was soggy — primarily due to broad US dollar strength. The upbeat ADP number started a fresh leg of selling that took the pair down below 1.3000 to as low as 1.2983. Since Europe went home, it’s traded in a tight range around 1.2990.
The BOC was more dovish than anticipated and that led to a rally in USD/CAD. Offers ahead of last week’s high and a rumored barrier at 1.0350 helped cap the move.
Gold gained $7 to $1583 despite a broadly stronger US dollar.
Don’t forget to post your guess for Friday’s non-farm payrolls contest before all the good numbers are gone.
