Forex news for North American trade on May 21, 2020:
- Markit US services PMI 36.9 vs 32.5 expected
- May Philly Fed -43.1 vs -40.0 expected
- US initial jobless claims 2438K vs. 2400K estimate
- BOC Poloz: Personally believes economic worries a bit overblown
- Fed's Clarida: More fiscal and monetary support may be called for
- Fed's Williams: Our economic future will be shaped by path of virus
- US April existing home sales 4.33M vs 4.30M expected
- South Africa lowers rates to 3.75%, as expected
Markets:
- Gold down $23 to $1725
- WTI crude oil up 50-cents to $34.00
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 0.68%
- UK 5-year yields fall into negative territory for the first time
- USD leads, CHF lags
- S&P 500 down 23 points to 2948
A recycled report highlighting China's willingness to retaliate for US sanctions weighed on risk appetite midway through US trading and spilled over into FX. That combined with failures to break out in EUR/USD, USD/CAD and others to spark a deeper slump.
The euro was particularly hard hit as it failed near 1.10 for the second day and then quickly fell 60 pips. The loone continues to try to break the range but some negative talk on Canadian housing and the broader risk aversion denied the move, at least for today.
overall, the moves in FX were relatively modest as we had some back-and-fill along with the usual trepidation. The market is going to need some kind of catalyst to break.
Gold fell on reports showing Russia's central bank not buying anything in April. Almost all of the daily decline came early in New York but it managed to bounce $8 from the lows.
