Forex news for North American trading for February 6, 2019:
- US November trade balance -$49.3B vs -$54.0B expected
- Canada building permits for December 6.0% versus -1.0% estimate
- UK PM spokesman: May has been clear Article 50 won't be extended
- Yellen: Current moment reminds her of 2015, 2016
- US auctions off $27B of 10 year notes at a high yield of 2.689%
- Malthouse Compromise talks are in trouble - report
- US weekly crude oil inventories +1263K vs +1850K expected
- Varadkar: EU-UK political declaration can be enhanced
- Juncker: Can't accept idea to reopen Brexit divorce deal
- Canada Ivey PMI 54.7 vs 59.7 prior
- BOC's Lane: Weaker currency will support economy through this period
US auctions off $27B of 10 year notes at a high yield of 2.689%
Markets:
- S&P 500 down 6 points to 2731
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 2.69%
- Gold down $9 to $1306
- WTI crude up 29-cents to $53.95
- USD leads, AUD lags
The US dollar held a solid but not spectacular bid throughout North American trade. It was mostly a grinding move but there was a jump in USD/JPY to 109.99 from 109.75 in the US afternoon. So far, heavy offers at 110.00 have capped the rally but it only remains a few pips away.
The big mover on the day is the Australian dollar after Lowe said the next move in rates could be higher or lower, abandoning his long-held hawkish stance. The bulk of that move came in Asia but it took another leg down in North American trade to 0.7110, cutting about 10 pips from the Asian low.
USD/CAD finished at the highs of the day just above 1.3200 despite a small rise in oil. The pair had tested 1.3200 in Europe before falling back to 1.3175. The second wave of buying came late in the day.
EUR/USD is down 150 pips in the past 48 hours in what's been a steady grind lower. It finished near the low of the day at 1.1365 after failing in a couple attempts at 1.1400 early in the day.
Brexit news remained negative on signs of fragmentation and a complete lack of progress on the Irish border. Tusk made headlines for saying there is "a special place in hell" for the Brexit architects. Cable held Tuesday's low of 1.2917 in a couple of tests and bounced to a session high of 1.2978. There looked to be a breakout but it was short-lived and GBP/USD sank back near session lows to 1.2935.
Gold struggled as the US dollar gained. It fell to an 8-day low with China out on holiday.
