ForexLive Americas FX news wrap: AUD finds a footing
Forex news for New York trading on January 10, 2020:
- US December non-farm payrolls +145K vs +160K expected
- Canada net change in employment for December 35.2K versus 25.0K estimate
- Baker Hughes oil rig count 659 versus 670 last week
- US tried to assassinate another Iranian official at the same time as Soleimani - report
- US sanctions senior Iranian officials on individuals involved in Tuesday's strike
- US November wholesale trade sales +1.5% vs +0.2% expected
- Goldman Sachs doubtful on whether China can hit $40 billion in US farm purchases
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Dollar bulls retreat
Markets:
- Gold up $8 to $1651
- WTI crude oil down 36-cents to $59.20
- US 10-year yields down 4 bps to 1.82%
- S&P 500 down 9 points to 3265
- AUD leads, GBP lags
The soft wage growth in the non-farm payrolls report led to an initial 20-pip fall in the US dollar but within 30 minutes it was erased on most fronts.
The more-lasting move was in AUD/USD as it made a steady climb back to 0.6903, just above the 200-day moving average after falling below int on Wednesday. The 45-pip gain in the pair was the only significant move on the day.
USD/JPY initially fell on the jobs report then recovered only to fall back later, slipping to 109.50 from a high of 109.69. The weakness came as stocks and Treasury yields slid lower late.
USD/CAD was interesting as the Canadian jobs report beat estimates and capped Canada's best year for employment since 2007. The pair initially fell to 1.3031 but tracked back up nearly to pre-report levels at 1.3056 on the combination of risk aversion and fresh worries about the wide gap ($24) between Canadian and US oil.
Gold was an interesting trade as was flat in Asia and early Europe but got a bid late to finish up $10, which closing at the best levels of the day and with a close above the September highs. It was the best weekly close since 2013.
Have a great weekend and thanks for making it such a great week.
