North American Summary and Highlights 17 September
Overview - The USD remains near its post-FOMC highs. GBP slipped after the BoE left rates unchanged.
North American session
The USD saw modest early slippage but recovered to return to near the post-FOMC highs. Data was mixed but on balance positive, lower initial claims ad a still firm if slightly less so Philly Fed outweighing slippage in housing starts and permits. Later pending home sales recorded a marginal increase. The USD came off its lows as oil did likewise. Equities picked up while UST yields slipped back.
USD/JPY recovered to 156 from 155.5. Early EUR/USD gains stalled ahead of 1.15.AUD/USD and USD/CAD were quiet. EUR/GBP picked up after the BoE left rates unchanged with an unchanged 6-3 vote, peaking above .86 from near .8570. GBP/USD saw lows near 1.3350 from 1.34.
European session
Largely consolidation of the initial post FOMC reaction in the European morning. USD/JPY has seen capping, pulling the pair back into the mid 155s ahead of the key BoJ on Friday. A very large $4.7bn at 155 on Friday also tending to add weight along with the supply into the bounce.
Oil has continued to trim back though, off around $1 with Brent front month at $104, Saudi re-routing and better inventories data taking the edge off in the last couple of days now.
Equities seeing a bounce, S&P up around 0.8%, Nasdaq +1%, taking back yesterday’s losses. US10s hold just off 5%, holding the slight flattening out of the FOMC. Somewhat firmer risk reflected in the morning's FX outperformers.