Forex news for North American trade on October 22, 2020:
- Weekly US initial jobless claims 787K vs 870K expected
- Pelosi: We made good progress this week.
- Republican Senate reports offer grim assessment on stimulus hopes
- France reports record 41,622 new virus cases
- US 5-year TIPS auction -1.320% vs WI at -1.32%
- Putin says Russia ready to cut oil output further if necessary
- Kudlow: Larger policy differences in COVID talks 'not likely to get resolved'
- US September existing home sales 6.54m vs 6.30m expected
- Eurozone Sept advance consumer confidence -15.5 vs -15.0 expected
- Paul Tudor Jones: I'm assuming a Biden victory and a blue wave
Markets:
- US 10-year yields up 4 bps to 0.864%
- Gold down $19 to $1904
- WTI crude oil up 65-cents to $40.68
- S&P 500 up 18 points to 3453
- NZD leads, GBP lags
Coming out of yesterday and with the political intrigue building, I thought we could see some big moves today but it was a restrained session. The theme was a reversal of some of the moves a day earlier as the US dollar rebounded and gold slumped.
One trend that's continuing is the break higher in Treasury yields. US 10s definitively broke the September high in a rise to 0.84% and that may have added to the USD/JPY bill.
The stimulus dance continues but there are so many signs that time has run out. Still, an upbeat headline from Pelosi sparked some buying in equities and that eventually spread to commodity currencies.
The Brexit newsflow was much quieter and that led to some profit-taking in always-weary GBP trade. Daily negotiations are about to begin, so it won't be quiet for long.