Forex news for NY traders on April 23, 2019

In other markets:

  • Spot gold fell -$2.41 or -0.19% to $1272.52. See post here.
  • WTI crude oil futures rose $0.79 or 1.21% to $66.34.

In the US debt market today, yields moved lower today with the shorter end moving the most. The US treasury auctioned $40B of 2 year notes at 2.355%. The bid to cover was a touch on the light side and dealers took down more than recent history as well. As a result, the yield ticked up modestly into the close.

The US yields were lower with the shorter end moving the most.

The benchmark 10 year yields in Europe moved higher.

The 10 year benchmark European yields moved higher

The US stock market was news worthy today, and may have contributed some to the dollars strength. The S&P index and the Nasdaq index both closed with decent gains (0.88% and 1.32% respectively), and each was good enough to send the indices to record high closing levels. Each did fall short of their all time intraday highs at 2940.91 and 8133.29. The S&P closed at 2933.68. The Nasdaq closed at 8120.82. The Dow lagged but still rose by a respectable 0.55%.

European shares were mostly higher with Spain's Ibex and Italy's FTSE MIB bucking the positive trend. Below is a summary of the range and changes for the major NA and European indices:

The major NA and European shares

As mentioned, the US dollar was mostly higher in trading today. It only trailed the JPY as the strongest of the majors (thanks to the JPY crosses). The CAD was the weakest as traders prepare for the interest rate decision tomorrow.

The % changes of the major currencies.

The ranges and changes did ok vs the 22 day averages. The EURUSDs range was a paltry 19 pips coming into the NY session and extended that range to 69 pips by the close. THe GBPUSD range was 44 pips and ends at 90 pips (and near lows). The USDCAD range was 53 pips and it nearly reached 100 pips.

The ranges and changes for the major pairs

Technically speaking:

  • The EURUSD stalled near the 100 hour MA in the London morning session (at the highs - 1.1260) and fell to a low of 1.1191 before rebounding into the day's close (trading at 1.1226. The low got within 8 pips of the April low of 1.1183. The pair is testing the 50% of the day's trading range at 1.1226. A move above might solicit more buying (PS the low from last week was at 1.12254. So it too is in play at the closing area
  • The GBPUSD fell below its 200 and 100 day MAs at 1.29644 and 1.29555 respectively in the NY session and stayed below the higher MA (1.29644) for the rest of the day. The price fell to a low of 1.2926 and is closing at 1.2933 - not far from that level near the close
  • THe USDCAD rallied to new April highs despite higher oil prices once again today. A catalyst was a technical break of the month long ceiling at the 1.3395-1.3402 area (see yellow area in the chart below). The BOC will meet tomorrow. Adam has an awesome preview posted HERE.
The USDCAD broke above its ceiling which helped the techncal bias today