Forex headlines for Sept 23, 2014:
- Canadian July retail sales ex-autos -0.6% vs 0.0% expected
- September 2014 US Richmond Fed manufacturing index14 vs 10 exp
- July 2014 US FHFA house price index 0.1% vs 0.5% exp m/m
- September 2014 US Markit manufacturing PMI flash 57.9 vs 58.0 exp
- Bullard says growth looks very good, other than in Q1
- Fed’s Kocherlakota sees inflation below 2% for the next four years
- Nothing interesting in comments from Fed’s George and Powell
- SNB’s Jordan says he will defend the cap with the utmost determination
- European stocks take a thumping
- S&P 500 down 11.5 points to 1983
- Gold up $8 to 1224 on Middle East actions
- WTI crude up 59-cents to $91.46
- GBP leads, NZD lags
That underlying bid in cable is sticking around. The pound took a spill as public finance numbers came out but the dip buyers keep stepping in and it finished at the top of the pile today. Keep an eye on 1.6461, which was the European high.
The dollar was broadly stronger otherwise in US trading.The Richmond Fed was a bit better and the rules to limit inversions could help keep companies in dollars.
The New Zealand dollar took out a big level briefly and continues to flirt with it. Watch 0.8050 on the close. The Fonterra forecasts just hit and sent NZD to a one-year low.
The Aussie was caught up in the same swoon. It started near a session high at 0.8925 but has bled down to 0.8842 in a one-way move.
The Canadian dollar was a bit stronger until the soft retail sales data hit. That kicked of a lumpy round of selling that eventually hit 1.1074. Mike nailed the layer of bids in USD/CAD (the bottom was 1.0986)
USD/JPY and EUR/USD were both taking bits out of the US dollar earlier in the day but finish close to unchanged — the dollar dip buyers are always lurking!
Today marked 16 years since the LTCM rescue and there are no signs that anyone learned anything since then. So let the Fed keep pumping easy money into the system and roll out the welcome mat for the ECB. Trade it, don’t hate it.