Forex news for North American trade on June 26, 2020:
- US May personal spending +8.2% vs +9.2% expected
- Texas governor orders taverns to close in response to virus
- CDC reports record 40,588 new coronavirus cases vs 37,667 yesterday
- San Francisco bails on Monday's reopening plan
- Florida closes bars after nearly 9000 coronavirus cases yesterday
- California coronavirus cases rise 2.5% vs 2.8% 7-day average
- Baker Hughes US oil rig count 188 vs 189 prior
- Arizona coronavirus cases rise 3428 vs 3056 yesterday
- China warns that 'meddling' in Hong Kong could jeopardize Phase One deal
- Texas COVID-19 hospitalizations +7.7% vs +8.0% yesterday
- Florida coronavirus cases rise 7.8% vs 4.1% seven-day average
- U Mich consumer sentiment 78.1 vs 79.2 expected
- CFTC Commitments of Traders: Yen longs and CAD shorts increase
Markets:
- Gold up $6 to $1770
- US 10-year yield down 4.4 bps to 0.64%
- WTI crude down 50-cents to $38.22
- EUR leads, GBP lags
The weight of coronavirus news because too much for the market to bear on Friday as officials backpedaled on the reopening in several US states and the infection numbers continued to rise. The big jump in Florida in particular sent markets over the edge after a ho-hum start to the day.
The dollar trade was a bit of a mess as the dollar rallied initially on the risk-off trade but that was unwound by a combination of flows and US-centric worries. The euro held up notably well but couldn't crack 1.1240 on the upside.
Cable, meanwhile, was sold hard and barely bounced. From 1.2415 at the start of New York Trade, the pair plunged a full cent ahead of the London fix before a 25-pip bounce.
It was a different story in the loonie, which was the laggard this week. USD/CAD rose to 1.3716 at the high, breaking the June top by a few pips but there was a quick reversal down to 1.3665 in a complete round trip.
AUD/USD stumbled into the London close and had a bounce but sellers hit again late as stocks made a new low.
Another interesting one is USD/JPY. The yen isn't finding the safe haven flows that you would expect and I'd pin that on quarter-end flows. That will be a big factor in the week ahead.
Have a great weekend and get ready for another wild ride in the week ahead with non-farm payrolls to come.
