Forex news for North American trading on Aug 24, 2020
- Chicago Fed July national activity index 1.18 vs 3.70 expected
- Canada July prelim manufacturing sales +8.7%
- Republicans officially nominate Trump to face Biden in November
- Marco and Laura pack a one-two punch in the gulf
Markets:
- Gold down $14 to $1926
- US 10-year yields up 2.3 bps to 0.65%
- S&P 500 up 34 points to record 3431
- WTI crude oil up 8 cents to $42.43
- USD leads, CAD lags
The US dollar was soft as New York trading got underway but it was a slow turnaround from there. Ultimately, the US dollar finished as the top G10 FX performer. There wasn't any particular driver for the dollar gains as the news/data was very light as the RNC gets underway and stocks continue to hit record highs.
The big loser in the dollar rally was gold. It ticked to $1960 in a spike higher at the start of NY trade but it was all downhill from there as it fell back to the key $1920 range.
USD/CAD as a big mover to the upside as it found support at Friday's low near 1.3130 and climbed a full cent from there. An early dip in oil prices appeared to help kick off the move but even when oil bounced, the pair continued to rise. It rose above Friday's high late but couldn't break Thursday's high at 1.3243, at least so far.
Cable struggled after an early pop to 1.3150 was repulsed. From there it was a steady slide down to 1.3054 with a bid just ahead of 1.3050 holding so far. There was some fundamental underpinning to the drop with Brexit negotiations hitting another snag.
EUR/USD stalled out at 1.1850 early and fell 60 pips as it was caught in the dollar crossfire. A smaller effect was in USD/JPY as it climbed 20 pips from the lows.
The overall moves didn't exactly synch up as we didn't get the usual correlation of higher-USD & lower stocks. Instead, the US market finished at the highs of the day and a new record.
