Forex news for North American trade on February 16, 2018:
- Justice Dept indicts 13 Russian nationals for improper influence on US elections
- US Commerce: One option is to impose 24% global steel tariff
- NY Fed GDP Nowcast bumped to 3.3% from 3.2%
- February prelim U Mich consumer sentiment 99.9 vs 95.5 expected
- Canada December manufacturing sales -0.3% vs +0.3% expected
- US January housing starts 1326 k vs 1234k expected
- January US import price +1.0% vs +0.6% expected
- Fitch upgrade Greece to B from B-
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: The dollar was in fashion
- Trump says indictment shows Russia meddling long before he ran for President
- Baker Hughes US weekly oil rig count vs 798 vs 791 prior
Markets
- Gold down $5 to $1348
- WTI crude up 34-cents to $61.68
- S&P 500 up 1 points to 2732
- US 10-year yields down 4 bps to 2.87%
- USD leads, euro lags
The US dollar posted a solid bounce to somewhat mitigate a terrible week. It was helped along by a strong U Mich consumer sentiment report and, perhaps, by the indictment of 13 Russians in the election meddling scandal. The indictment helps to take the focus away from Trump's campaign because there was no evidence of any US involvement.
EUR/USD was steadily sold all day to finish 90 pips lower at 1.2411 from a high of 1.2555 in Asia. The bulk of the move came before North American arrived but a final wave hit late in the day to break stops below 1.2428. The drop left a bearish outside day on the chart.
USD/JPY slowly battled back from a 15-month low to 106.29 from a blowout down to 105.23 in Asia. But the move came early in Europe and US traders arrived to 106.25. There was blip down to 105.90 into the London fix but a steady rebound from there.
Cable was sold down to 1.4005 in Europe then bounced up to 1.4070 as US traders arrived only to be hit late by a dip down to 1.2394 in a run on stops below the big figure. After that was out of the way, the pair bounced to finish at 1.4016.
USD/CAD held a steady bid and rose to 1.2567 at the highs despite higher oil prices. Canadian data on manufacturing sales was weak and talk of US aluminum and steel sanctions renewed trade worries.
AUD/USD was also on the soft side as it drifted down to just below 0.7900 from a high of 0.7988 in Asia-Pacific trading.
Overall, it was a day of profit taking and some position squaring ahead of the weekend. Reminder that Monday is a holiday in the US and most of Canada.
