Forex news for Americans trading on September 27, 2019:
- US considering limits on US portfolio flows into China
- US durable goods orders for August (P) +0.2%% vs -1.0% estimate
- US August personal spending +0.1% vs +0.3% expected
- Baker Hughes oil rigs 713 vs 714 estimate. Down from 719
- U Mich Sept final consumer sentiment 93.2 vs 92.1 expected
- Fed's Harker: Fed may need to grow balance sheet sooner than thought
- Johnson plans to present concrete Brexit proposals to EU
- Hu Xijin: Chinese purchases signaled goodwill, not concessions
- Ireland's Coveney says EU ready to negotiate but UK hasn't sent a serious proposal
- ECB's Lane: Recent decision was not a dramatic policy move but a recalibration
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Canadian dollar buyers bail
Markets:
- Gold down $8 to $1496
- WTI crude down 58-cents to $55.83
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 1.64%
- S&P 500 down 20 points to 2958
- CHF leads, GBP lags
A report suggesting the US could limit investment in China and block Chinese companies from US exchanges weighed on sentiment late on Friday, sending stocks to the lows of the week and weakening the US dollar.
USD/JPY had hit the highest since Sept 18 shortly before the report and risk trades were solidly positive but the pair fell to 107.90 from 108.15 on the headlines. The move in FX was more-subdued than in stocks and that might be a clue about what comes next.
Brexit headlines weren't the driving factor in GBP trading for a change as dovish comments from the BOE's Saunders hurt the pound. I'd argue they weren't as negative as the 50 pip move would imply and at some point the market appeared to agree and it retraced the move before a late-day drift lower, perhaps on weekend risk.
The euro touched a fresh two-year low but wasn't eager to push it further and climbed in New York trade in a steady rise to 1.0940.
USD/CAD was bounced around by oil and oil settlement flows. WTI completed the Saudi round trip early in Toronto trade and that kept the pair in check but crude turned around and so did USD/CAD in a quick rise back to 1.3260 from 1.32520.
The Aussie held a nice bid at the start of North American trade but gave most of it back late on risk aversion.
On the week, the kiwi was the top performer while the pound lagged badly.
