Forex news for North American trade on March 21, 2019:
- EU Brexit extension might not have a firm timeline
- EU said to mull 9-month Brexit delay if May's deal defeated
- US sells 10-year TIPS at +0.578% vs +0.564% WI
- Macron: I am totally open to a technical extension
- Canada January wholesale sales +0.6% vs +0.6% expected
- March Philly Fed +13.7 vs +4.8 expected
- Initial jobless claims 221K vs 225K expected
- BOE leaves bank rate unchanged at 0.75%; votes 0-0-9
- US sells 10-year TIPS at +0.578% vs +0.564% WI
- Eurozone March advance consumer confidence -7.2 vs -7.1 expected
Markets:
- Gold down $4 to $1308
- WTI crude down 40-cents to $59.83
- US 10-year yields up 1 bps to 2.55%
- S&P 500 up 32 points to 2856
- USD leads, GBP lags
The US dollar picked up a big bid in North American trading and completely reversed yesterday's post-FOMC drop. It was a steady, solid bid in the dollar that increased alongside US stocks.
EUR/USD was under minor pressure in Europe and slipped to 1.3380 but the selling accelerated in a push to 1.1343, below the 1.1350 pre-FOMC level. A late bounce boosted it to 1.1365.
Cable was a bigger mover. It climbed early in North American trade to 1.3170 on some constructive sentiment from Labour but has May arrived in Brussels it began to slump. The low was 1.3004 as stops were busted in a quick move lower. At the moment negotiations are continuing but the tone has been somewhat positive and GBP/USD has rebounded to 1.3098.
USD/JPY was one spot that didn't recover the post-FOMC drop. The pair was as low as 110.30 with US stocks looking like they would open lower. Instead stocks shot higher but USD/JPY could only climb to 110.90, still 60 pips below the pre-FOMC level.
USD/CAD was another conundrum. Oil rose as high as $60.39 to hit a new four-month high but the market has soured on the Canadian budget and the yield curve inversion in Canada is troubling. The pair finished up 70 pips to 1.3378.
AUD/USD wasn't able to hang onto any of the post-employment gain and slowly sagged to 0.7090 to finish the day flat. The drop erased by the Fed rally and the jobs rally, which isn't the most-inspiring development.
