Forex news for North American trade on August 31, 2018:
- US-Canada talks break up with no agreement
- NAFTA talks said to resume next Wednesday
- NAFTA: Lighthizer says Canada talks constructive, made progress
- Trump hints he will undo order to freeze federal wages
- ECB's De Guindos: Eurozone growth remains solid and broad-based
- Baker Hughes oil rigs 862 vs 862 estimate
- Manafort associate Sam Patten charged with FARA violation
- US final August U Mich consumer sentiment 96.2 vs 95.5 expected
- Chicago PMI 63.6 vs 63.0 expected
- Canada July PPI -0.2% vs -0.4% expected
- Brexit: Raab says they made valuable progress but there's clearly more work to do
- Fitch affirms Italy at BBB but lowers outlook to negative from stable
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Cable shorts expand further
Markets:
- Gold flat
- WTI crude oil down 33-cents to $69.92
- S&P 500 flat at 2901
- US 10-year yields flat at 2.86%
- CHF leads on month, AUD lags
- USD leads on day, AUD lags
The day started with hopes for a NAFTA deal but those were dashed very early in the day by a Canadian newspaper report saying negotiations had soured. USD/CAD climbed to 1.3070 from 1.3000 on that. That was worsened by a leak of negative Trump comments and the pair hit 1.3089. That level was retested late when it was confirmed there was no deal. However, the USTR gave notice that it expects a deal by the end of September, as required and officials scheduled more talks for Wednesday so USD/CAD sank back to 1.3043.
Elsewhere, EUR/USD was sucked lower by a broad USD-bid into month end. The pair was at 1.1675 early in Europe and it was a slow bleed from there, especially into the London close as the pair hit a daily low of 1.1585 before a late bounce to 1.1607.
Cable was similar pulled lower with some heavy flows into month end leading to some +40 pip swings in both directions. Eventually the pair settled near the lows of the day in a disappointment after the big gain Wednesday.
USD/JPY is going to be a focus in the week ahead with the US and China trade battle in play. Worries weighed in Europe and sent the pair to 110.69 but it steadily climbed in North America to hit 110.10 to reverse what might have looked like a breakdown.
AUD and NZD were both sold throughout the day against the US dollar to end miserable months on a weak note.
Have a great weekend.
