Forex news for North American trading on May 9, 2017

  • North Korea says it will continue nuclear weapons tests
  • US Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross: Dollar is not too strong. Other ccy's are too weak.
  • The next-in-line to the Le Pen political dynasty to quit
  • US Treasury sells 3-year notes at 1.572% vs 1.563% WI
  • Schaeuble: Normalization of ECB policy to start 'shortly'
  • Atlanta Fed Q2 GDPNow cut to 3.6% vs 4.2%
  • EIA raises 2017 US crude output estimate to 9.31 mbpd from 9.22
  • Fed's George: Slower first quarter growth no reason to pause gradual hikes
  • Moon declares victory in South Korean election
  • Moody's early take on Trump's tax reform: Higher deficits
  • IBD/TIPP US May economic optimism 51.3 vs 51.7 prior
  • March JOLTS job openings 5743K vs 5725K expected
  • March 2017 US wholesale inventories revision 0.2% vs -0.1% exp m/m
  • March 2017 Canadian building permits -5.8% vs 5.5% exp m/m
  • Aussie fiscal strength is supportive of triple A rating says Moody's
  • US Treasury sells 3-year notes at 1.572% vs 1.563% WI

Markets:

  • Gold down $5 to $1221
  • S&P 500 down 2.5 points to 2396
  • WTI crude down 33 cents to $46.12
  • US 10-year yields down 0.7 bps to 2.39%
  • GBP leads, CHF lags

There were two different markets ongoing at the same time on Tuesday. There was a slow, steady bid in the US dollar right across the board. It was virtually nonstop and sent USD/JPY to 114.25 from 112.50 in a steady, almost unbroken line.

The move was shaken up late when North Korea announced its defiance on nuclear tests. That sent the pair back to 113.85 in a bout of risk aversion that was mostly limited to JPY and gold.

The other kind of market was one punctuated by headlines. In the euro, it kicked up to 1.0900 from 1.0875 on Schaeuble's foray into monetary policy. The Canadian dollar was bounced around by oil and flow-driven trades.

AUD/USD spent the day plumbing the lows despite some squeezes higher in metals. It finishes the day near the lows at 0.7342. The budget wasn't the white knight some had hoped for.

Cable found support at 1.2900 early in US trading and then bounced 40 pips as the chop in that pair continues.