Forex news for North American trade on Feb 26, 2018:
- ECB's Draghi: The eurozone economy is expanding robustly
- Fed’s Quarles sticks to the gradual interest rate rise script
- Circle says it got a waiver from the SEC in Poloniex acquisition
- Lawsuit may force Craig Wright to prove that he is Satoshi Nakamoto
- Feb Dallas Fed manufacturing index 37.2 vs 30.0 expected
- Merkel's conservatives back deal with SPD
- Fed's Bullard: US economy is looking very good
- Bullard: Substantial Fed hikes risk making policy too tight
- US January building permits revised down to 5.9% vs 7.4% first reported
- Buffett says US corporate tax reform is a "huge tailwind" for business
- Circle buys US cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex
- January Chicago Fed national activity index +0.12 vs +0.20 expected
Markets:
- S&P 500 up 32 points to 2779
- US 10-year yields flat at 2.86%
- Gold up $5 to $1333
- WTI crude up 46-cents to $64.01
- EUR leads, CAD lags
The US dollar was soft as North America rolled in. The dollar traded close to the worst levels of the day but steadily crept back from there.
EUR/USD touched 1.2355 as New York was waking up but slowly slipped down to 1.2280 with the lows coming at the London fix. From there, it bounced to 1.2315.
Cable followed a similar pattern in a drop down to 1.3928 from 1.4070 in part due to some options running off at 1.4000.
USD/JPY was less volatile but was helped by a strong day for stocks. The chop continued up to 107.00 from 106.40 at the lows.
USD/CAD was in focus with NAFTA negotiations underway. The par rose above 1.27 early but slid back to 1.2675 in the latter half of the day.
