Forex news for New York trade on January 17, 2020:
- US December housing starts 1608K vs 1380K expected
- US January prelim U Mich consumer sentiment 99.1 vs 99.3 expected
- Harker: Fed interventions in the repo market are temporary
- Fed's Harker: I believe inflation nearing 2% target
- US December industrial production -0.3% vs -0.2% expected
- Baker Hughes oil rig counts 673 versus 659 last week
- US November JOLTS 6800K vs 7250K estimate
- Fitch affirms Germany at AAA with a stable outlook
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: The shift to cable longs continues
Markets:
- Gold up $4 to $1557
- WTI crude up 22-cents to $58.74
- S&P 500 up 13 points to record 3329
- US 10-year yields up 1.5 bps to 1.82%
- USD & JPY lead, GBP lags
The big surprise of the day was the 16% jump in US housing starts in the third month in a row of good gains. Some pointed to unusually warm weather but lower mortgage rates are undoubtedly part of the equation and the data gave another reason for USD bulls to cheer.
The impact was broad based but not in the yen, which was curious because the risk trade continue to improve. Both the AUD and NZD ended at the lowest levels of the day with CAD not far off.
The laggard was the pound after a dismal retail sales report pushed the odds of a BOE hike this month up to 73%. The pound finished down 64 pips and more than 110 pips off the high, which came moments before the data.
Have a great weekend!
