Forex news for New York trade on
- Markit January prelim US services PMI 57.5 vs 53.4 expected
- Canada November retail sales +1.3% m/m vs 0.0% expected
- US December existing home sales 6.76m vs 6.56m expected
- Biden says covid deaths expected to be well over 600,000
- Brian Deese NEC Director: Economy at a very precarious moment
- Baker Hughes oil rig count 289 vs. 289 estimate. Last week 287.
- New covid variant may be linked to higher mortality, UK says
- US weekly oil inventories 4352K vs +2425K expected
- A minority of ECB policymakers were more optimistic on risk to economy - report
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Euro longs inch higher
Markets:
- Gold down $15 to $1854
- US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 1.85%
- S&P 500 down 12 points to 3841
- WTI crude down $1 to $52.14
- Euro leads, CAD lags
The extremely strong manufacturing and services PMIs from Markit were a reminder that the US economy continues to recover even amongst the resurgence in the pandemic. The contrast with UK data is a remarkable demonstration of how Americans seemingly shrug off death and illness while other consumers go into hiding.
The report helped to shore up sentiment in what had the chance to a a strongly negative day. Equities pared losses afterwards and the US dollar gave back some of its gains.
In general the FX market was more subdued than equities. The euro chopped sideways around 1.2165 and USD/JPY did the same around 103.80.
Sterling showed some impressive life in a bounce back to 1.3680 from 1.3635 despite the poor UK economic data.
On the flipside, Canadian retail sales were strong but the loonie couldn't hold a bid and made now lows later in the day. Some of that was on a decline in commodity prices but oil was only down 2% and recovered from the lows.
The week ahead features the FOMC and waves of earnings. There's a real sense of greed in the market as retail traders pile in. Powell will surely offer a reminder that money will stay cheap for the foreseeable future.
Have a great weekend
