Forex news for New York trade on January 18, 2021:
- Yellen to highlight US income inequality in speech, say it's time to 'act big'
- Alberta sees 'solid' case for damages if US cancels Keystone XL
- Canada December housing starts 228.3K vs 230.0K expected
- Italy's Conte wins confidence vote in lower house
Markets:
- Gold up $13 to $1841
- Canada's TSX Comp +0.2%
- WTI crude oil down 27-cents to $52.09
- JPY leads, NZD lags
It was a holiday in the US so that kept somewhat of a lid on the market. The trend in North American trade was a recovery in GBP and CAD after earlier losses.
The loonie had fallen on reports saying Biden will pull the permit for Keystone XL but shares of the pipeline owner itself fell only 4% and the Canadian dollar fared better. In the bigger picture, it's not exactly the best (re)start to Canada-US relations in the new presidency though, but we'll have to wait and see what Biden makes his priority.
Sterling's fall was more about a rebound in EUR/GBP earlier in the day but broader USD selling helped cable to recover to unchanged in a 60-pip intraday round trip.
The yen held a bid but the overall risk trade was decent in global stocks. We'll have to see who is right in the day ahead when desks get back to full staffing levels.
