North American Summary and Highlights 21 Feb
Overview - A quiet session saw little FX movement, with the only significant item on the calendar, the FOMC minutes, generating little market response.
North American session
In quiet trade ahead of the FOMC minutes the USD advanced versus the JPY, to 150.30, and the AUD, to .6540, but saw little direction elsewhere in the absence of significant data. UST yields were higher, a weak 20 year auction extending the move at the long end.
FOMC minutes showed most noting the risks of easing too quickly, but there was little that was clearly hawkish. Markets showed little reaction, though the USD saw a marginal softening after the release, with EUR/USD reaching a high of 1.0824.
European morning session
A very quiet European morning session saw little net change in the G10 currencies. Although the USD did manage some gains in the early part of the session, it reversed most of these by the end of the morning. Initial moves saw he USD gain 0.1-0.2% across the board, but by the end of the session it was only marginally firmer against the EUR and GBP, and unchanged against the JPY, but AUD/USD did hols at 0.6560 after an open above 0.6570. The CHF was the morning’s strongest currency, with EUR/CHF falling to 0.9505 from 0.9530, so that USD/CHF also moved around 15 pips lower to 0.8805.
Newswise there was nothing of note. Although the UK reported the biggest monthly budget surplus on record at GBP16.7bn in January, this was slightly below market consensus so had no market impact.