Forex news for US trading July 24, 2015:
- Fed inadvertently releases economic forecasts, USD slides
- US new home sales June +482 k vs +548k exp
- US July prelim Markit PMI 53.8 vs 53.6 expected
- Tsipras holds telephone conversation with Hollande
- Greek bailout talks delayed by security fears
- July Belgian business confidence -4.1 vs -4.1 expected
- Gold up $8 to $1098
- Baker Hughes US oil rig count 659 vs 638 prior
- WTI crude oil down 33-cents to $48.12
- S&P 500 down 22.5 points to 2049
- S&P 500 down 2.2% on the week
- US 10-year yields down 1 bps to 1.76%
- JPY leads, AUD lags on the day
- EUR leads, AUD lags on the week
EUR/USD was soft coming into US trading because of soft PMIs in France and Germany. The low came just as US traders arrived and sold the pair down to 1.0925 but there were bids lurking down to 1.0920 and a very slow, steady reversal got underway to 1.0975.
US dollar selling increased after the Fed released staff forecasts. They're usually under a 5-year lockdown but they were inadvertently put on the site and the Fed then made an announcement. It was confusing but lower assumptions about long-term rates and soft growth hurt the dollar.
In particular, USD/JPY was under pressure as it slid to 123.60 from 124.05 at the start of US trading. Bond yields were in a slide and breakevens cracked. Stocks fell hard in Europe and the US. Still, the pair bounced to 123.80 late.
Cable was more-or-less flat on the day at 1.5511. It skidded to 1.5467, adding to yesterday's bearish engulfing candle but rock-solid bids and USD selling held the low on a few tests. The pair hit 1.5511 late.
USD/CAD bids hit hard early in US trading in a rush up to 1.3100 to a decade high. But sellers eased up and the pair recovered to 1.3034, about flat on the day, even as oil declined. That's an early sign that appetite to sell the loonie is on the wane.
The Australian dollar wasn't as lucky. Concerns about China are getting more and more chatter. The soft China PMI hammered the Aussie and it never recovered. The low was 0.7260 and we finished at 0.7280.
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