Forex news for North American trade on August 18, 2020:
- S&P index trades at a new all-time record high
- Mnuchin: The President wants to do more for small business
- US July housing starts 1496K vs 1245K expected
- Pelosi aide says she doesn't want to cut deal in half, wants to meet halfway
- CDC US Covid case count falls to 40,117 on the day from 41,893 yesterday
- Florida cases up 3838 vs. 2760 yesterday. Some other Covid statistics for the day
- Freeland to be named next Canadian finance minister
Markets:
- Gold up $18 to $2002
- US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 0.67%
- S&P 500 up 8 points to 3389
- WTI crude closes at $42.55
- GBP leads, USD lags
The momentum higher in US equities and lower in the US dollar continued to start the day on Monday. It reached a crescendo as the S&P 500 hit an all-time high, completely wiping out the 34% pandemic decline.
However minutes afterwards that was the cue to take profits and reposition in a number of markets. Stocks fell into negative territory and the dollar reversed losses. EUR/USD fell to 1.1920 from a high of 1.1967. The Australian dollar dropped to 0.7214 from 0.7264.
Gold was also hit in a quick fall to $1980 from $2016 however it led the rebound as it battled back to $2005.
For currencies it was more of a mixed bag, the New Zealand dollar was able to recoup the drop and more while the Canadian dollar almost matched its high. However the Australian dollar and euro were more restrained.
The pound is another story as it climbed almost non-stop throughout the day. There are signs of heavy flows but not game-changing Brexit news. Cable hit fresh highs late in the day and finished up more than 130 pips.