Forex news for North American trade on January 8, 2019:

Markets:

  • S&P 500 down 24 points to 2575
  • US 10-year yields up 2.6 bps to 2.72%
  • Gold down $4 to $1285
  • WTI crude oil up $1.15 to $49.67
  • CAD leads, GBP lags

It was a less-lively session than we've gotten used to but it had some twists and turns. USD/JPY started at 108.73 then climbed to 108.98 as sentiment improved and US stocks rose but offers at 109.00 capped the rally until a turn in sentiment sent the pair to a daily low of 108.44. Stocks fell into slightly negative territory but then a fresh wave of buying helped to lift USD/JPY back to 108.75.

The US dollar found some broad strength early in the day and that weighed on the euro, along with the terrible German industrial production number. EUR/USD sank to 1.1422 and tripped some minor stops along the way but it quickly stabilized and bounced to 1.1441 last.

Cable didn't find as firm of a floor as the focus sharpened on May's Brexit vote, which is now scheduled for Jan 15. The debate starts Thursday and it's going to be a steady stream of negativity and cable fell 60 pips on the day in steady selling down to 1.2718.

The commodity currencies came under early US pressure as the big dollar gained but they rebounded later. AUD/USD climbed to 0.7140 from 0.7120 to finish basically unchanged on the day.

USD/CAD fell for the sixth straight day as oil prices challenged $50 again. The high was $49.95 and USD/CAD finished near the low at 1.3278. Look for some consolidation from here with the BOC due Wednesday.