Forex news for North American trading on April 17, 2018
- US March housing starts 1319K vs. 1267K expected
- IMF leaves 2018 and 2019 global growth estimates unchanged but boosts US and Europe
- Fed's Williams: FOMC needs to continue on gradual rate hike path
- Williams says he doesn't expect inverted yield curve in next few years
- US March industrial production +0.5% vs +0.3% expected
- Canada February manufacturing sales +1.9% vs +0.8% expected
- Mnuchin says new tax system is showing strong economic growth
- Fed's Evans says 2.5% inflation "would not put the Fed's nose out of joint"
- Evans: Inflation somewhat below target but expected to improve
- Bill Gross: Forget the Treasury yield curve, watch the swaps curve
- NAFTA nations to meet Thursday in Washington but say a deal is unlikely
- Fed's Harker: Labor market fairly tight
- Fed's Kashkari: There is no 'extreme labor shortage'
- China seeks firewall in US trade war by aligning with EU - report
Markets:
- S&P 500 up 28 points to 2706
- Gold up $1.5 to $1347
- WTI crude up 46-cents to $66.69
- US 10-year yields flat at 2.82%
- CAD leads, CHF lags
Trade fears are receding and that sent the S&P 500 to the best levels since March 21. Not coincidentally, that was when Trump signed the first round of sanctions against China and promised more were coming.
Since then the rhetoric has ratcheted down but whether it's a halt or a pause is up for debate. For now, earnings are solid and that's helped stocks but bonds and risk trades in FX like USD/JPY haven't made much headway.
The US dollar was generally strong Tuesday but it was truly a mixed bag with CAD and JPY outperforming USD. USD/JPY was buoyant early and hit 107.20 but faded later before stopping the slide ahead of the Asian low of 106.88.
Cable came off the burner in a slow slide to 1.4290 from 1.4360. The euro was soft early but bottomed into the London fix near 1.2335 before bouncing to 1.2370.
USD/CAD will be in focus in the day ahead with the Bank of Canada decision coming. The pair tried last week's low near 1.2525 but backed away ahead of the risk event. Last at 1.2550.
