North American Summary and Highlights 28 Oct
Overview - USD trade was subdued but GBP saw slippage while AUD and CAD advanced.
North American session
In a subdued session EUR/USD was stable near 1.1660 while USD/JPY was never very far from 152. Gains in EUR/GBP stabilized near .8780. The main action came from gains in the commodity currencies, AUD/USD rising to .6590 from .6560 and USD/CAD slipping to 1.3950 from 1.40.
US data saw August house price data from FHFA and S&P Case-Shiller picking up on the month on a seasonally adjusted basis though yr/yr growth continued to slow. October consumer confidence slipped to 94,6 from 95.6, but September was revised up from 94.2.
European morning session
The USD was marginally softer in a quiet European morning session. GBP was the worst performer, with EUR/GBP making new highs for the year at 0.8765, its highest since November 2023. The trigger for GBP weakness wasn’t clear. Weaker than expected BRC shop price data overnight may have helped, but UK yields were only slightly lower, and spreads were little changed. The JPY was slightly the best performer, testing towards the 151.75 low seen in Asia after an early bounce, but still holding above that low.
EUR/USD fell back a little early on, but returned to opening levels by the end of the morning. The Gfk German consumer climate index for November came in weaker than expected, but the Italian business confidence index was a little stronger than consensus. EUR/NOK was 2 figures higher at 11.66, perhaps helped by lower gas prices.