Forex news for North American trade on July 18, 2018:
- US Beige Book: US economy continued to expand over the last few weeks.
- Powell: no evidence a recession is imminent
- Powell says wide range of wage measures have moved up
- Weekly US EIA oil inventories +5863K vs -4100K expected
- Boris Johnson: We must try to save Brexit because we will not get another chance
- Kudlow: China trade talks are stalled at the moment
- Kudlow: Trump administration mulling a number of pro-growth options on further tax reform
- ECB's Villeroy: Economy is stronger than feared
- US June housing starts 1173K vs 1320K expected
- UK PM May insists that Chequers agreement and white paper remains basis for EU negotiations
- Mexico economy min brushes aside idea of bilateral deal with US
Markets:
- Gold flat at $1227
- WTI crude up 81-cents to $68.88
- US 10-year yields up 1.6 bps to 2.88%
- S&P 500 up 6 points to 2815
- NZD leads, GBP lags
The US dollar was strong in Asia and Europe but started to sag as North America rolled in. Part of that was a soft housing starts report but the bulk was Powell as he made comments with a dovish tinge about inflation risks to the downside and about the Fed's Treasury holdings.
Early in the session, China talked about retaliating for US tariffs and that sent USD/JPY quickly down to 112.71 from 112.95 but it slowly climbed back to 112.87 later.
EUR/USD touched 1.1602 in Europe but found bids at the figure and climbed to 1.1660 shortly after the European close.
Cable was beaten up on the inflation report and hit an 8-month low at 1.3010 but bids at the figure meant the low came minutes after the report. It was steadily higher from there with a late report on an Article 50 extension helping it to 1.3070.
The commodity currencies were the story late in the day as the climbed on a rebound in metals and oil. USD/CAD started at 1.3250 and sank nearly a full cent to 1.3165 with no real domestic news to report.
AUD/USD added 50 pips from the lows to hit 0.7400.