USDCAD breaks higher but runs into resistance
As North American traders enter for the day the USD is the strongest while the NZD is the weakest. The greenback was higher on steady flows that pushed the pair through or to technical levels. The USDCAD was one that saw the pair spike higher but stall right before its 200 hour MA. The EURUSD, after stalling at the 100 hour MA, fell below the support target. However, each saw moves off the extremes rather quickly. The NZDUSD (which is the biggest currency pair mover so far today, fell below both its 100 and 200 hour MAs in trading today. It remains below the 200 hour MA at 0.7203 (at 0.7192) as traders keep a lid on the corrective move for that pair.
The changes and ranges snapshot shows most pairs vs the USD off the extremes. The GBPUSD is more toward the high after GDP for the 4Q came in better than expectations. The AUDUSD and NZDUSD area staying more toward the lows on "risk-off" flows. The JPY crosses on the other hand, are mixed, indicative of the uncertainty in the market so far today. It is Friday, and to compound that, it is ahead of a 3 day weekend in NY for Presidents Day. China is already off and will remain off until Wednesday.
In other markets:
- Bitcoin is trading trading up $930 or 1.98% at $47871. The high reached $48912. The low extended to $46845
- Spot gold is trading down $6.60 or -0.35% to $1819
- Spot silver is trading up $0.14 or 0.55% at $27.12
- WTI crude oil futures are trading down $0.31 or -0.53% $57.83
In the premarket for US stocks, the futures are implying a modestly lower opening after the mixed results yesterday:
- S&P index -5.1 points after yesterdays 6.5 point gain
- Dow industrial average -13 points after yesterdays -7 point decline
- NASDAQ index -9.5 points after yesterdays 53.239 point gain
In the European equity markets the major indices are trading mixed
- German DAX, -0.45%
- France's CAC, +0.1%
- UK's FTSE 100, Unchanged
- Spain's Ibex, -0.5%
- Italy's FTSE MIB, -0.2%
In the US debt market, yields are mixed with the 2 year down slightly but the longer end higher. The 30 year is up 1.8 basis points and getting closer to the 2.0% level once again. The yield curve is steepening as well today.
In the European debt market, the benchmark 10 year yields are mostly higher with the Italian yield near unchanged.
