Forex news for North American trading on May 17, 2021
- It could have been worse. Major stock indices close lower but well off the lows
- Michael Burry (‘Big Short’ guy) has unveiled a US$530 million bet against Tesla
- WTI crude oil futures settle at $66.27
- Real money buying EUR and hedge funds selling - Credit Agricole
- Bitcoin bleeds towards the lows of the day
- Gold extended above its 200 day moving average for the first time since early February
- BOE's Vlieghe: Bottlenecks and base effects will push inflation temporarily higher
- Fed survey: Overall share of working adults dropped 2 pp due to child care and schooling
- Italy to phase out national curfew by June 21
- Major European indexes mixed to start the trading week
- Clarida Q&A: We've in a very fluid period
- Fed's Clarida: No comments on the outlook in Atlanta speech
- US May NAHB home builders index 83 vs 83 expected
- Canada April existing home sales -12.5% m/m vs -2.8% expected
- Fed's Bostic: Pent-up demand will put pressure on prices, that is known
- May US Empire Fed manufacturing index 24.3 vs 24.0 expected
- The JPY is the strongest and the NZD is the weakest as NA traders enter for the day
- Canada April housing starts 268.6K vs 290.0K expected
It was a fairly quiet Monday in the forex market. Pairs like the EURUSD, USDCHF and USDCHF all traded within the narrow ranges set coming into the North American session. The EURUSD maintained its 43 pip trading range, the USDJPY stayed within its 42 pips trading range, and the USDCHF stayed in a very narrow 27 pip trading range.
For other pairs like the AUDUSD and NZDUSD which opened near the lows for the day, they recovered in the North American session. For the AUDUSD it was trading down -28 pips at the NA open, but is closing near unchanged on the day. The NZDUSD was trading down -54 pips at the open, but recovered about 21 pips into the close and trades down -33 pips currently.
The GBP and CAD were the big movers in the NA session. At the start of the session the CAD was down marginally. The GBP was marginally higher, but by the end of the day, they were neck in neck for the "strongest currency of the day". The USDCAD is trading near the lows for the day and in doing so moved away from it's 100 hour MA at 1.2118 (the price is trading at 1.2067). The low from last week, and lowest level going back to May 2015 is within about 20 pips. For the GBPUSD, it moved above a swing area between 1.4102 and 1.41122 and traded as high as 1.4146 (trading at 1.4132 into the close). On the topside, the 1.4152 to 1.41578 will be eyed as topside resistance.
Meanwhile, the NZD was the weakest at the start of the day and remained the weakest at the end of day.
For the greenback, the dollar was higher at the start of the session, but is ending marginally lower with declines vs the EUR, GBP, JPY and CAD, and gains vs the NZD mostly and more modestly vs the CHF. The AUDUSD is ending unchanged.
IN other market, gold prices rose by $23.50 to $1866.90. Technically, the price moved above its 200 day moving average at $1846.13 for the first time since early February. The price also moved above a topside trendline near $1856.10.
US stocks moved lower breaking two days of gains. However the shares ended while off their low levels on the day. The Dow close down -0.16%, but was down as much as -0.6%. The S&P closed down -0.25% after reaching a low of -0.75%. The Nasdaq was the worst performer at -0.38% but traded all the way down to -1.23% at the session lows.
European shares closed mixed with Germany, UK, France lower while Italy and Spain closed higher. Below are the details of today's trading in the North American and European markets.
In the US debt market, yields moved higher with the yield curve steepening about basis point or so. The 30 year yield rose 2.3 basis points. The 10 yield rose 1.9 basis points.
