Forex headlines for June 23, 2014:
- June US Markit manufacturing PMI flash 57.5 vs 56.5 exp
- US May existing home sales 4.89M vs 4.74M expected
- Nowotny says ECB interested in weakening euro appreciation
- May Chicago Fed national activity index +0.21 vs +0.20 exp
- ECB’s Mersch says banking union is not yet complete
- UK’s Treasury sec Alexander confident BOE has powers to address housing
- Gold +3$ to $1317
- WTI crude down 71-cents to $106.12
- S&P 500 flat at 1963
- AUD leads, USD lags
The market wasn’t exactly in high gear to start out the week. The China PMI was a tantalizing piece of bait on the hook but the market didn’t bite. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9445 on the PMI but US investors weren’t impressed and sold the bounce down to 0.9407 before a late climb to 0.9419. If that move doesn’t sound big to you, that was as big as it got.
The US PMI was another headline that could have captured the Wall Street imagination, especially since the Philly and Empire numbers were also strong but it didn’t. EUR/USD edged down to 1.3581 from 1.3591. Existing home sales added another thrust but none of it stuck and the pair climbed back to 1.3602.
USD/JPY carved out a small double bottom at 101.82 and edged up to 101.93.
Cable probably remains the most intriguing trade and it definitely spurred the most chatter around here. GBP/USD sagged down to 1.7003 but resistance is now support and that line wasn’t ready to break. We finish at the highs of US trading at 1.7028.
USD/CAD is on a few radar screens right now and the breakdown from Friday continued after the China PMI. It was on the upswing at the start of US trading, up to 1.0740 but it slid back to 1.0726 late. Watch the overnight low of 1.0717.
